Remember when these stories dominated the headlines? Join us as we revisit the shocking scandals that had everyone talking in the 90s before they faded from memory. From celebrity breakups and arrests to controversial TV moments and criminal cases that captivated the nation, these scandals defined an era but somehow slipped from our collective consciousness.
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00:00I will start by explaining why I came forward to tell my story about my affair with Governor Bill Clinton.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the new stories that were on everybody's minds in the 90s
00:13before they got buried by time and other big stories.
00:17The bar was roundly booed by 30,000 Padre fans as she screeched her way through the anthem.
00:23Number 10. Julia Roberts, Real Life Runaway Bride.
00:30It sounds like the plot of a movie. A famous actress is about to marry a famous actor.
00:41The wedding is going to take place on a literal soundstage. It's a Hollywood fairy tale come to life.
00:47Then, with the nuptials just days away, the whole thing was suddenly called off.
00:52Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts had not only left her fiancé, Kiefer Sutherland, but she was now with his best friend.
00:59And the Lost Boys co-star Jason Patrick.
01:02You better come with us now.
01:04Roberts would later say the press exaggerated the timings of all the events, but the pile-on was almost immediate.
01:11She was arguably the most famous woman in the world.
01:14Yeah.
01:14And this wedding that was supposed to be something between the two of us became something so big.
01:23And then, in the middle of that, I think she had the courage.
01:26You know, it wasn't what she wanted to do in the end.
01:29Number 9. Left Eyes Arson Charge.
01:32When I went home, the bed is all made, and his car is in the driveway.
01:36I'm like, what's going on? Where is he at?
01:39Anyway, he was in the bathroom, butt nigga.
01:43I didn't know he was going to be up in the room with another woman.
01:45Shortly after their debut, R&B girl group TLC were hit with a bizarre controversy involving member Lisa Left Eye Lopez.
01:54After finding out her then-boyfriend, NFL player Andre Rizin, was cheating on her, Lopez dumped several of his sneakers in a bathtub and set them on fire in an act of revenge.
02:06Them sneakers went right in the bathtub.
02:08I was just like a mad woman, like, just throwing them in there, just like, you're gonna burn.
02:15Unfortunately, the fire soon spread out of control and burned down Rizin's Atlanta mansion.
02:21Shockingly, the two stayed together.
02:23I was not shocked or surprised that Andre, one, bailed her out of jail, and two, you know, they ended up still, you know, having a relationship.
02:33Rizin even accompanied her to her sentencing for the crime.
02:37Lopez's tragic and untimely death a few years later in a car accident may have overshadowed this regrettable episode of her life.
02:45The guy walked up on stage and told me she had passed.
02:49He was a petroleum tycoon worth over a billion dollars, and she was 1993's Playmate of the Year.
03:05The headlines wrote themselves.
03:07When 89-year-old J. Howard Marshall married 26-year-old model and actress Anna Nicole Smith, everyone pretty much assumed the worst.
03:14You know, the reason I think I am a target is because I am a happy person.
03:20What could this woman possibly want from this very, very rich man except the money she would presumably inherit upon his death?
03:27Pierce wants to put an end to it right away, but J. Howard Marshall II tells his son Pierce, she makes me enjoy life again, but out.
03:38Marshall had actually pursued her for years before she agreed to the marriage.
03:42When he did pass away in 1995, a protracted legal battle saw Smith being excluded from her deceased husband's fortune.
03:50Smith later became known for her reality TV antics, personal struggles, and premature death in 2007 at the age of 39.
03:59He respected me and didn't care about what people said about me.
04:03I mean, he truly loved me and I loved him for it.
04:06He was kind.
04:07He was very, very kind to me.
04:09Number 7. Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live.
04:12In 1992, the Irish singer-songwriter known for her activism took her opportunity to stage a protest against the abuses of the Catholic Church right on the SNL stage.
04:24At the end of her musical number, she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II to the stunned silence of the audience.
04:31Fight the real enemy!
04:32This was by design as the shocked executive producer Lorne Michaels ordered the standard applause sign not to be lit.
04:40Public reaction was swift.
04:42She was condemned by everyone, from the Catholic Church to her fellow artists, to even the show's next guest host, Joe Pesci.
04:49What am I doing? I'm making myself crazy for what?
04:52I mean, she's just a kid, you know, why should I care?
04:54Anyway, I mean, the Pope's probably forgiven her already.
04:57I mean, he forgave that guy that shot him, right?
05:00You know what? I saw this whole thing coming.
05:04I mean, stuff like this is bound to happen if he keeps forgiving people.
05:07O'Connor said she never regretted the act, and many credit her with trying to sound the alarm on the Church's scandals years before they went mainstream.
05:15If I hadn't done that, we wouldn't be sitting here now clarifying all these things, so it was to create discussion, to create the circumstances under which I would be asked these questions.
05:24Number 6. Hugh Grant's arrest.
05:27Although he was already a star in the United Kingdom in 1995, Four Weddings and a Funeral star Hugh Grant was at the beginning of crossing over to American stardom.
05:37Then, he and Los Angeles sex worker Divine Brown were arrested for lewd conduct.
05:43I think you know in life, pretty much, what's a good thing to do and what's a bad thing.
05:48And I did a bad thing, and there you have it.
05:50Grant was not only a star, he was also in a relationship with Elizabeth Hurley at the time.
05:56Elizabeth Hurley stayed with you during that time.
05:59Yes.
06:01Your relationship with Elizabeth, which started then, in 13 years or whatever it is.
06:08In a lot of ways, the reason this one doesn't really live on is because of how well Grant handled it.
06:13He didn't make apologies, excuses, or a big show of his reasons.
06:18He faced the music and went on to continue his career as the dashing British movie star we all know him to be.
06:24To this day, people talk about the way you handled that situation, which was apologizing and not making excuses.
06:33Which has become strangely admirable in retrospect.
06:38The way you handled it.
06:39I don't really remember apologizing. I'm not sure who I was supposed to apologize to. I was just an idiot.
06:44Number 5. Jennifer Flowers and Paula Jones.
06:47So I'm here to repeat, in front of all of you, what I said in my Star article.
06:53Yes, I was Bill Clinton's lover for 12 years.
06:57And for the past two years, I have lied to the press about a relationship to protect him.
07:02Bill Clinton's legacy is probably most notable for that one big scandal.
07:07You know the one.
07:08Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate.
07:12In fact, it was wrong.
07:14But he was dogged by misconduct rumors even before his impeachment proceedings.
07:19In fact, during his 1992 presidential campaign, former State of Arkansas employee Jennifer Flowers
07:25came forward about a long-standing affair with Clinton.
07:29Bill Clinton harassed me on the job and then basically told me, let's keep this between ourselves.
07:38I just pretended that it didn't happen because who would believe me?
07:42He denied these accusations, with his team contesting that supposed recordings between the two had been doctored.
07:49She's a legend and is described in some detail in a supermarket tabloid, which she calls a 12-year affair with you.
07:56Clinton wouldn't confess to the affair until his 1998 impeachment scandal.
08:05However, he continued to deny 1994 sexual harassment accusations by another state employee, Paula Jones.
08:12Number 4. JLo and Diddy Shootout
08:15Many people forgot these two even dated.
08:18Sometime in the late 1990s, Jennifer Lopez began dating the rapper, then known as Puff Daddy and Puffy.
08:24The two were megastars, at or near the beginnings of megawatt careers.
08:30Getting back with Puffy in a little way.
08:35I remember you said that.
08:36Yes, or in my mind.
08:39Look at that.
08:41Look at that.
08:42Or in my mind, getting together permanently.
08:44That was first of all.
08:45In December 1999, just days before the decade ended, the two were at the site of a shooting at a Times Square nightclub.
08:54Diddy's involvement has been the subject of rumor and allegation ever since.
08:58He was charged with bribery and various weapons-related charges, but he was ultimately acquitted.
09:04Three people were injured that night.
09:06There's a narrative that still exists that you knowingly took the fall for Sean Combs.
09:12Taking the fall means not snitching, not getting your friends in trouble.
09:19Even today, I wouldn't want to do anything to get anyone in trouble.
09:24The incident was largely forgotten by mainstream news until his 2024 arrest
09:29and the ever-sprawling web of alleged conspiracies, debauchery, and lies surrounding the music mogul.
09:36J-Lo's yet to comment on Diddy's arrest and assault allegations,
09:40but after she filed for divorce from Ben Affleck in August,
09:44a 2014 interview with radio host Big Boy resurfaced and has since gone viral for how Jen responded.
09:50Number 3. Ellen Comes Out Twice
09:53Has there ever been anyone you felt you clicked with?
09:58And what was his name?
10:01Susan.
10:02Ellen DeGeneres was known as the lovable daytime talk show host who loved to dance and prank celebrities.
10:08Well, for a while, anyway.
10:10But DeGeneres' fame was hard won.
10:13Beginning in stand-up comedy, she earned her own sitcom in 1994.
10:17But her career almost came to a halt in 1997 when she made the brave decision to come out as a lesbian.
10:24Why do I have to be so ashamed?
10:26I mean, why can't I just say the truth?
10:29I mean, be who I am.
10:30I'm 35 years old.
10:31I'm so afraid to tell people.
10:33I mean, I just...
10:35Susan, I'm gay.
10:38This was especially unheard of because she was at the height of her fame at that point.
10:42But this was a two-fold announcement.
10:45Her hilarious Time magazine cover was just the beginning.
10:48After months of speculation and a seemingly endless media frenzy...
10:52The TV sitcom character Ellen is set to announce she's a lesbian.
10:56She faced even more blowback when her character on the show also came out,
11:00which also earned huge criticism for guest stars, actress Laura Dern and daytime superhost Oprah Winfrey.
11:07You were punished as well.
11:09You didn't work for a year just because you were on that show.
11:13Yeah.
11:13And you're not even gay, but people thought you were gay.
11:16I mean, even... I hurt straight people through this.
11:18I'm hurting everyone.
11:20Number two.
11:21Milli Vanilli's Grammy is revoked.
11:23Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, more commonly known as the duo Milli Vanilli,
11:28had been caught lip-syncing during a concert in 1989.
11:32But the biggest bombshell was yet to come.
11:35Even as the two were receiving the 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist,
11:40suspicion was mounting.
11:41There are a lot of artists here in this room.
11:43There are a lot of artists outside in the world who can achieve the same award that we achieve today.
11:50And it's an award for all artists in the world.
11:52Thank you very much.
11:53Milli Vanilli were not just lip-syncing.
11:56They weren't singing on their records at all.
11:58Their manager, record producer Frank Farian, confessed to this right after firing them.
12:03Rob Pilatus didn't deal well with humiliation.
12:07You know, being punched every day in the public eye leaves marks.
12:14The two became the targets of ridicule, although it took a lot of people, including Farian, to pull off such a big con.
12:21The Recording Academy revoked their award as a result of this deception.
12:25A Grammy first.
12:27When everything broke down, the only thing I could hang on to was music.
12:31That was the only thing.
12:33So music will always be part of my life.
12:35Always.
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12:51Number 1.
12:53The shooting of Mary Jo Butterfucco.
12:55He knew I was vulnerable, and I think that he preyed upon my vulnerabilities.
13:03When a Long Island housewife opened her door on May 19th, 1992, she had no idea her life was about to change.
13:11Standing there was a girl named Amy Fisher, who came with the devastating news that Mary Jo's husband was having an inappropriate and illegal affair with her.
13:20Then Fisher shot her in the face.
13:22The first time we heard that a woman had been shot on the doorstep of her suburban house, I think we all thought that it was a home invasion.
13:30Mary Jo survived, but the entanglement of the auto shop owner, Joey Butterfucco, and the teenager who became known in the media as the Long Island Lolita, captured national headlines.
13:42The final chapter in the saga of the Long Island Lolita, Amy Fisher coming face to face with her victim.
13:49The salacious details of the case are shocking even now.
13:53The case inspired films like American Beauty and generated a level of infamy that its major players were able to cash in on for a few years afterward.
14:02And I kept telling myself, well, he loved me.
14:05And it took me a long time to realize, not only didn't he love me, he didn't think anything of me.
14:10I meant nothing.
14:11Which of these blasts from the past did you remember?
14:14Tell us in the comments.
14:15There are no famous Joey's, except for Joey Butterfucco.
14:21Yeah, that guy really hurt us.
14:23Do you agree with our picks?
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