The 12 Most Infamous Open Secrets in Hollywood

Hollywood is a town built on artifice; a place where everything you see is not what it seems. Is it any wonder that the city’s unofficial motto is “fake it till you make it?” The entertainment industry secrets that float around Los Angeles are so thick that during pilot season you have to wear a face mask to keep yourself from hearing about which producers are sleeping with which hopeful young starlets and who’s addicted to what. Some open secrets in Hollywood are too big to ignore, so rather than look the other way, most people simply pretend like the insane thing that’s happening isn’t real; or like it was something they imagined. In an age when there’s so much happening and everything feels ephemeral it’s never been easier to hide your secrets in plain sight.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of these Hollywood open secrets are about mega stars in the entertainment industry who have managed to cultivate a godlike air around themselves. Some of them are as simple as who’s secretly gay, or who’s in an open marriage, but the most salacious stories that everyone ignores are more existential. They deal with things that everyone in Hollywood knows but can’t seem to bring themselves to talk about. And even if they are discussed, whatever webpage they were posted on sweeps them up in the detritus of the news cycle. So take a moment now and check out the most infamous open secrets in Hollywood. 

There's been a lot of talk about Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's relationship; that they're both gay and married for the convenience, that only Will is gay, and that their marriage is open - with each of them allowed to do whatever they please. Jada Pinkett commented on that last rumor, telling Howard Stern, "Here’s the deal with that, Howard, you’ve got to trust who you’re with. And at the end of the day, I’m not here to be anybody’s watcher. He’s a grown man. Here’s what I trust - I trust that the man that Will is, is a man of integrity. So, he’s got all the freedom in the world. As long as Will can look himself in the mirror and be okay, I’m good." 

Bummer, right? As much as the normies in the flyover states want to believe that the men and women of Hollywood are naturally beautiful and toned, none of that is true. And while a lot of older stars are content with plastic surgery, the real way to cheat the ravages of time is with something called "beauty work," a digital procedure where people touch up photos, videos, and any other digital thumbprint that a star might have.

The procedure makes them look perfectly fit in every way. In 2014, beauty work pioneer Claus Hansen told Mashable, "Nobody looks like what you see on TV and in the movies. Everybody is altered." 

Stories of child abuse and molestation in Hollywood have been slowly coming out since the late '80s, but it wasn't until 2015 when Amy Berg's documentary An Open Secret was released that people finally started paying attention to the rumors of children being passed around like currency at Hollywood parties. And as if that weren't enough, both Corey Feldman and Elijah Wood have commented on the sexual misconduct that's rampant in the city of angels.

Elijah Wood diplomatically told Vanity Fair, "If you can imagine it, it’s probably happened." While Feldman was more upfront. "Ask anybody in our group of kids at that time: [Hollywood Execs] were passing us back and forth to each other."

These rumors have gone back to the '80s, but it wasn't until the Internet age that people were actually able to pile on the rumors that Travolta might possibly be gay, and that he's trapped in a loveless marriage. After Douglas Gotterba claimed that he and Travolta had been through a six year relationship together, Travolta finally spoke up and denied the persistent rumors, telling The Daily Beast, "Sex stuff is always going to be interesting to somebody." It's interesting to note that throughout the interview he never flat out denies anything. Maybe we're reading too much into it. 

In 1987, when Matthew Broderick was riding high on the success of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and vacationing in Northern Ireland with Jennifer Grey, the star was speeding through the countryside when he veered into the wrong lane and collided with another car. He received multiple injuries, Jennifer Grey had whiplash, and the driver and passenger of the other car, Margaret Doherty and Anna Gallagher, were killed instantly. Initially Broderick was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and faced up to five years in prison, but he later received the lesser charge of careless driving and was fined only $175. 

Katy Perry lip syncs. Beyonce lip syncs. And if the Chainsmokers are to be believed, everyone at the VMAs in 2016 lip synced. Depending on who you are, this is kind of a big deal. How are young fans supposed to react when it turns out that their idols are so worried about being absolutely perfect that they won't even allow one minor vocal flaw during a performance?

In the early '90s, when grunge was king, lip syncing was a HUGE deal. But now that we know everyone pretends to sing while they're on stage we simply pretend it doesn't happen. For shame! 

Sorry Twihards, but your two favorite sparkly actors who were supposedly in an on again off again relationship while they were living out your mildest dreams were actually just doing what was best for PR.

After final film of the Twilight franchise went to the theaters and the actors were released from their shackles of faux love, Kristen Stewart told T Magazine, "People wanted me and Rob to be together so badly that our relationship was made into a product. It wasn’t real life anymore. And that was gross to me. It’s not that I want to hide who I am or hide anything I’m doing in my life." She went on to say she had no interest in a relationship that was being used for entertainment value in the media. 

After Stewart moved on to date women, she has said, "I'm so much happier." 

Say it ain't so, Hollywood Foreign Press! Even though most real artists realize that they don't need an award to tell them that their art is valid or good, some people still really like to have them. They're nice to look at and they can be used in a fight.

In fact, there are multiple stories of producers flying the voting members of the HFPA to Las Vegas for an all-expenses-paid trip prior to their votes in order to ensure a win for their film or pet actor. It's certainly disappointing, but no one ever said Hollywood was fair. 

Tales of Hollywood casting couches are such a normal thing in our society that the porn industry has made a killing off of pretending to sexually assault women who are trying to make a career out of acting. While some people might think this is just a thing that happens in the film industry, it's truly a perverse cycle of events only taken part in by the lowest of scum.

In 2016, Rose McGowan revealed that she had been raped by a studio exec and that despite people having knowledge of the encounter, she would never win at a trial because she was seen as a sexual being in the film industry. 

On one hand, this isn't really a shock because how else is the most famous person on the planet supposed to meet someone, Tinder? Does he have an OK Cupid profile? It's doubtful. But the other side of the story is the emotional pain that his "dates" are put through, not to mention the overall weirdness of the situation.

Former Scientologist Cathy Schenkelberg told the Huffington Post about her girlfriend audition. "I didn’t know I was being auditioned [to be Cruise’s girlfriend], so I was being asked on camera, ‘Where are you from? What [Scientology] level are you on?’ Then, ‘What do you think of Tom Cruise?’ I thought I was auditioning for a training course, so when he asked about Tom Cruise, I said, ‘I can’t stand him, I think he’s a narcissistic baby!’" Oops! 

When Schenkelberg left the audition, she realized that things may not have been as she thought they were. "When I left the room, there was another actress outside and she asked, ‘How did you do? I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well, that’s an audition to be Tom Cruise’s girlfriend,’ and I said, ‘I don’t think I got the gig.’”