Making History Come Alive Newsletter offers The Fatty Arbuckle Scandal, also known as the Roscoe Arbuckle scandal, one of the most notorious scandals in Hollywood history that occurred in 1921.
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a popular silent film actor and comedian known for his work in slapstick comedies, was accused of the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe during a Labor Day weekend party at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
The scandal unfolded when Virginia Rappe fell ill at the party and was later hospitalized with a ruptured bladder, leading to her death a few days later. Rumors quickly spread that Rappe's injuries were caused by Arbuckle's actions, and he was arrested and charged with her rape and manslaughter.
The sensational trial that followed captivated the nation and became a media frenzy. Arbuckle faced three separate trials, with the first two resulting in hung juries. In the third trial, Arbuckle was acquitted of all charges, but the damage to his career and reputation was already done.
The scandal had a lasting impact on Hollywood and the film industry. Arbuckle's films were banned from theaters, and he was effectively blacklisted from the industry. The scandal also led to increased scrutiny of Hollywood stars' private lives and behavior, as well as calls for censorship and moral reforms in the film industry.
Despite being acquitted, Arbuckle's career never fully recovered from the scandal. He struggled to find work in the years following the trial and was largely relegated to working behind the scenes in film production. Arbuckle's tragic fall from grace serves as a cautionary tale of the power of scandal and sensationalism in the entertainment industry.