Here’s Where The Most Famous Tabloid Figures Of The ’80s Ended Up

The 1980s are remembered as a decade of enormous blockbusters, big hair, and even bigger shoulder pads. It was also a time of shocking celebrity scandals and astonishing real-life stories – as reported on by the tabloid media of the time. But what happened to the chief protagonists of those infamous ’80s sagas? Read on to find out! What became to Jessica McClure and the much-talked about Baby M may very well surprise you...

20. Zsa Zsa Gabor’s slapping scandal

Hungarian-born actress Zsa Zsa Gabor would become arguably more famous for her luxurious lifestyle and litany of husbands — a staggering nine of them — than for any acting work she ever did. But the former Miss Hungary became embroiled in a major scandal in June 1989. When stopped by cop Paul Kramer for a driving violation, Gabor slapped him and was duly booked for assault. The Gilligan’s Island star claimed excessive force, but the case went to trial.

In big trouble

The trial took place in September 1989 and during it, Gabor landed herself in more hot water. The actress made slanderous remarks about Kramer as well as insulting the witness, calling him “a little punk with a hairdo like a girl.” Gabor left the court in tears and ended up in the slammer for three days for probation violations. A civil case for slander was settled outside the courtroom in 1991. Gabor continued to live the life of a Hollywood icon until her death in December 2016 at the age of 99.

19. Ben Johnson is stripped of Olympic Gold

On September 24, 1988, Ben Johnson stormed to 100m gold at the Seoul Olympics. Johnson finished ahead of his rival, the USA favorite Carl Lewis, setting a new world record in the process. But the world would be stunned to discover soon after that the Canadian sprinter had cheated his way to glory. He had used illegal and performance-enhancing steroids, and ignited a major scandal that brought to light the extent of substance abuse in elite athletics. Besides Johnson, six of the eight competitors would either test positive for or be accused of using banned substances at some point.

Falling from grace

Johnson, who had for a time become a highly marketable athlete with a range of endorsements, suffered a spectacular fall from grace. His gold medal and world record were taken away, and the Canadian was barred from competing for two years. He attempted a comeback, but turned to doping again and was banned for life in 1993. Johnson has since done some personal training and soccer coaching — strangely for the late Colonel Gaddafi’s sports-mad son — and given numerous interviews about his life and career.

18. All’s well that ends well for Jessica McClure

One of the big tabloid events of the 1980s in America was undoubtedly the rescue of the toddler Jessica McClure from a backyard well in Texas. The nation was gripped for the 58 hours in which the young girl survived in the confined space with no food or water. Eventually rescuers cut through the rock to free her from the hellish situation. Jessica made the cover of People magazine and went to the White House. But what happened to her in the years after the ordeal?

Thriving today

Well, Jessica has some scars from her ordeal — a forehead mark, a reconstructed right foot — but she has mostly kept herself out of the limelight. Now Mrs. McClure Morales, she has worked as a special education teacher’s aide, got married, and had kids. She told People in 2017 about bullying at school following the incident, telling them she was called a “well-dweller” for some years. All the same, Jessica did collect a sizable nest egg from well-wishers, which was put in a trust for when she turned 25.

17. Vanessa Williams is stripped of Miss America

On September 17, 1983, Vanessa Williams was on top of the world. She had just been awarded the Miss America crown, the first black woman to win this honor. But less than a year later, on July 23, 1984, she would have to give up the crown, after a revealing photos scandal that rocked the wholesome competition. Those images of Williams, taken in 1982, had been sold to Penthouse magazine, which intended to publish them.

All was not lost

Fortunately, the whole scandal didn’t destroy Williams’ prospects. Far from it. Indeed, after aborting plans to sue and hiring a PR guru to recover her reputation, she has gone on to have a very successful and varied career in showbusiness. Williams has released several albums as a recording artist, performed on Broadway as an actress and appeared in movies such as The Pick Up Artist and Eraser. Then there’s her roles in TV shows such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Williams has been married three times and has four children.

16. How Pete Rose squandered the Hall of Fame by gambling

Pete Rose was one of baseball’s biggest ever stars by the 1980s: a bona fide legend for the Cincinnati Reds who in 1985 surpassed Ty Cobb’s record for most career hits. But the heralded hitter — who gained the nickname “Charlie Hustle” — was rocked by a betting scandal in 1989. Reports began to circulate that Rose had bet on sports teams, including the Reds. An investigation found him guilty, and he was banned from Major League Baseball for life, ruling out an otherwise-inevitable slot in the game’s Hall of Fame.

Ups and downs

So, what became of Rose after the betting scandal? Well, a year after his fall from grace he was busted for filing false tax returns, and he spent five months in jail for his trouble. Strangely, he appeared in what is now the WWE as an announcer and minor character between 1998 and 2000. After years of denials, he finally confessed to betting on baseball in his 2004 autobiography My Prison Without Bars. More recently he has worked for Fox Sports as a studio analyst.

15. Brenda Dickson’s costly affair

Back in the mid-1980s, Brenda Dickson was a young actress earning her corn on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. But in 1987 she was abruptly ditched from the show after 165 episodes portraying Jill Abbott. Dickson claimed she was dumped out of spite after she ended an affair with the much-older show creator William J. Bell. She instigated a $10 million lawsuit against Columbia Pictures, alleging blacklisting that was damaging her career prospects. The saga became a tabloid sensation.

It backfired

The lawsuit didn’t go well for Dickson. She claimed in her book My True Hidden Hollywood Story that it left her without a dime or home. The book also alleges that Bell hired “Mafia cartel judges and attorneys” to destroy her. Dickson made a vanity video called “Welcome to My Home” which was ignored at the time but has become a cult favorite on the web since. The former Miss California has attempted to make a comeback since, whilst Bell contracted Alzheimer’s disease and eventually passed away in 2005.

14. When Olivia Newton-John got a little too physical

For some time, Olivia Newton-John was seen as the wholesome Australian sweetheart from Grease. Well, at least she was until the release of her single “Physical” back in September 1981. The song and its accompanying music video caused a huge backlash in some quarters, thanks to its sexually suggestive lyrics and scantily clad men. Still, despite being banned by numerous radio and TV stations it became a huge hit that sold 10 million copies.

Onwards and upwards

Newton-John’s career certainly didn’t suffer too much from the controversy that surrounded “Physical” in the fall of 1981. She has released a stream of new albums and singles in the years that followed. She appeared in a number of films and TV shows too, the ranks of which include the movie A Few Best Men and soap opera Sordid Lives. The Australian icon is married to businessman John Easterling; in recent times she has been battling breast cancer.

13. Brooke Shields’ controversial commercial

Brooke Shields went from child star to controversial vixen almost instantly in 1980. That transformation from the then-15-year-old came on the back of a series of print and TV ads for Calvin Klein. Shields was modeling the new extra-tight jeans for the designer, and her sexualization and infamous catchphrase caused a major stir in America. CBS and ABC in New York banned the ad, but what happened to Shields in the subsequent years after the fallout?

Just a bump in the road

Shields continued with her acting and modeling careers after the Calvin Klein furore. Notable TV credits include playing River Fields in Jane the Virgin and voicing Mrs. Goodman in Mr. Pickles. In 2021 Shields fractured a thigh bone and has had to learn to walk again. She was married to tennis player Andre Agassi from 1997 to 1999 but is now wed to Chris Henchy, with whom she’s had two children.

12. Christian Slater’s car-chase controversy

By the mid-1980s, Christian Slater was something of a teen heartthrob, having risen to prominence as Binx Davey in The Legend of Billie Jean. Further success followed with a starring role in the edgy Heathers, but Slater’s bad-boy ways began to get him into trouble. One particular incident in 1989 featured a car chase that was worthy of a movie. An inebriated Slater sped through West Hollywood into a dead-end alley, before booting a cop in the head and trying to clamber over a fence to escape.

Chaos continued

Not surprisingly, this shocking incident excited the tabloid media. But it wouldn’t be the end of Slater’s career, nor his terrible behavior. No, Slater continued to land plum Hollywood roles, in films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, True Romance, and Interview With a Vampire. He also continued to get involved in incidents, including carrying a firearm on a plane and attacking guests at a house party. Now in 2021, he seems to have a bit more self-control and less is heard about his once-chaotic personal life.

11. Todd Bridges’ homicide hell

Todd Bridges rose to fame as the lovable Willis on Diff’rent Strokes. But the young man’s life off-screen was tainted by addiction. Then in 1989 America was shocked to learn that the actor had been charged with murder. He was accused of shooting a dealer named Kenneth “Tex” Clay. The case was covered heavily in the media, but Bridges — who was represented by O.J. Simpson's future lawyer Johnny Cochrane — was found not guilty by the jury.

Turning things around

You might have thought that being accused of murder would’ve been the end of Bridges’ acting career. But no, as of 2021, the now-veteran thespian has a remarkable 116 acting credits attributed to him on the movie website IMDb. These include spells on TV shows The Young and the Restless and Everybody Hates Chris. What’s more, he has been in prison, married and divorced since that scandal, and also moved into production. Phew!

10. Lionel Richie’s on the down-low love uncovered

Lionel Richie rose to fame in the Commodores before achieving even bigger success as a solo artist. But the “Hello” lothario was involved in a major love scandal in June 1988 that excited the tabloids. Richie was caught in the act with fashion designer Diane Alexander by his then-wife Brenda. His high-school sweetheart proceeded to physically attack the singer and his mistress, getting herself arrested in the process for trespassing and battery, among other charges.

People still loved his songs

Richie’s career was not hit by those colorful reports of his infidelity. He continued to record albums and singles throughout the 1990s and beyond, although he has never reached the level of critical or commercial success achieved by his first three albums. He finally divorced Brenda in 1993 and married his former mistress Alexander, before divorcing her too in 2003. Richie began appearing as a judge on the TV talent show American Idol in 2018.

9. A holiday from Hell for Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick shot to fame as the title character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in the mid-1980s. But the star’s halo slipped in 1987 when he was involved in a fatal crash in Northern Ireland. Broderick was driving in torrential rain with actress girlfriend Jennifer Grey when he struck a car head-on while on the wrong side of the road. Mom Margaret Doherty and her daughter Anna Gallagher were killed in the accident, while the actor had to be cut out of his vehicle.

Getting back on track

After recovering in hospital, Broderick got his career back on track. In the next few years he starred in Civil War epic Glory and student drama The Freshman. The mid-to-late 1990s saw him earn awards for the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and acclaim for his role in Election. He has continued to act in the 2020s. Broderick married Sarah Jessica Parker in 1997, and they have three children together.

8. Rob Lowe’s lusty low point

Rob Lowe’s career was on a seemingly unstoppable upwards trajectory in the mid-1980s. But the handsome star of the hit movie St. Elmo’s Fire almost lost it all thanks to a shocking sex-tape scandal in 1988. The then-24-year-old actor was filmed making out with two girls he had met in a club, one of whom was underage. Lowe denied knowing the age of the 16-year-old girl but was hit with a lawsuit from her mother. His career and reputation were on the rocks.

The only way is up

Lowe was able to ride out the storm, and appeared in a number of films from the early 1990s onwards, including a role as foe Benjamin Oliver in Wayne’s World. He truly got his career back on track in 1999 though when he starred as Sam Seaborn in the acclaimed political drama The West Wing. He has also appeared in numerous episodes of Californication and Parks and Recreation and still does the occasional film. He is married with two sons, and has remarked how the 1980s incident helped him get sober.

7. Jim Bakker’s fall from grace

Jim Bakker rose to fame as the popular host of The PTL Club, a sort of Christian version of The Tonight Show. But the charismatic televangelist and his multimillion empire — which included a Christian Disneyland — collapsed in a heap back in the late 1980s, when it became clear he had not been living the Godly life he preached to his followers. No, Bakker had been having extramarital — and allegedly unsolicited — relations with his secretary, and seemingly he’d then paid her considerable hush money in an attempt to cover his tracks.

Suffering the consequences

The massive financial fraud committed by Bakker would soon come to light, and the case went to trial in 1989. Bakker was found guilty of 24 – yes, 24 – counts of fraud. He was handed a 45-year prison sentence and a hefty $500,000 fine. The sentence was reduced on appeal in 1991 to eight years, but he actually only served five before gaining parole in 1994. Bakker’s wife filed for divorce he was in prison; the preacher eventually launched a new ministry and got married to a woman named Lori.

6. Anjelica Huston hurls Jack Nicholson out the door

As the daughter of film director John, Anjelica Huston was born into Hollywood royalty. So it was perhaps no surprise that she went into acting, after a period working as a model. In 1973 she began dating Jack Nicholson, and the tabloid media were fascinated by their romance, as well as by rumors of Nicholson’s cheating. This reached a crescendo in 1989, when Huston learned that he had indeed been unfaithful, and what’s more, had even had a child with Rebecca Broussard. Huston ditched him for good.

She pulled it around

Huston seemingly didn’t let the split get her down too much, and her career thrived into the 1990s and beyond. She has starred in major hits including The Witches and The Addams Family, and gone behind the camera like her father. Huston wed sculptor Robert Graham in 1992 and was with him until his death in 2008. The veteran actress has forged a long-running creative partnership with cult director Wes Anderson. Nicholson, meanwhile, has seemingly retired from acting, but is regularly seen courtside watching his beloved L.A. Lakers.

5. Ozzy Osbourne’s batty moment

The frontman of heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne would go on to earn the nickname “The Prince of Darkness.” And perhaps that alias was well-earned, not least after a shocking incident in 1982. Osbourne was performing in Iowa one night when a bat flew onto the stage. Big mistake: the “Paranoid” singer took a fatal bite out of it. Animal activists were up in arms, calling for prosecution, while Ozzy claimed he had thought it was a fake and consequently styled the entire incident an “accident”.

Even more of a rocker

The furor didn’t really hurt Osbourne’s career: if anything, it added to his wild-man reputation, and a similar dove-biting scandal pushed sales of his first solo album through the roof. Osbourne also achieved wider fame outside of hard-rock circles in the 2000s via the reality show The Osbournes, which documented the lives of Ozzy, his long-suffering wife Sharon, and their children Jack and Kelly. Black Sabbath were active intermittently until 2017 and are considered rock icons today.

4. Stern struggle for Baby M

Readers of a certain vintage will surely remember the shocking case of Baby M: it was a huge story back in 1986. Baby M was the nickname for Melissa Stern, who was the subject of a very public tug-of-war between her parents William and Elizabeth and surrogate mom Mary Beth Whitehead. You see, Whitehead had been inseminated with Mr. Stern’s sperm and carried the baby, only for her to decide she wanted to keep it herself. A court drama ensued, with the Sterns eventually winning out.

“I'm very happy I ended up with them”

But what happened next, you are probably asking? Well, Melissa decided to have the parental rights of her surrogate mother Whitehead completely terminated in 2004. She has kept out of the spotlight ever since but briefly commented on the situation to a New Jersey Monthly reporter that year, praising her victorious parents, the Sterns. She said, “I’m very happy I ended up with them. I love them, they’re my best friends in the whole world, and that’s all I have to say about it.”

3. Sex scandal sees Jimmy Swaggart lose his swagger

Another televangelist, another major 1980s scandal. Step forward this time Jimmy Swaggart, the Assemblies of God minister who had a large congregation of believers in the palm of his hand. Until 1988, that is, when it was discovered that Swaggart was spending downtime with a lady of the night. It led to his suspension and defrocking, and a notorious, tear-laden apology that would have been an instant meme, if such things existed back then.

More scandal

So, what happened to Swaggart after that ignominious episode? Well, the pastor decided to found his own Pentecostal ministry. But the sinner got caught out again just a few years later. Cops stopped his car for driving errantly, and discovered a woman inside who we’ll just say was not his wife. There was no tearful apology this time, but his ministry became non-affiliated and non-denominational. Swaggart is still active today though, and sings his songs of praise with gusto at places such as the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge.

2. Miming Milli Vanilli

German/French dance-pop duo Milli Vanilli were a sensation for a short time in the late 1980s, their debut LP going six-times-platinum. But they were unmasked as complete frauds during an infamous 1989 concert in Connecticut. That late July night, the pre-recorded music stopped suddenly, and the dreadlocked duo of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus continued to mime and dance to the songs that they had never sung in any setting. Turns out, they were merely the front for studio musicians deemed less stylish and good-looking.

From bad to worse

The backlash and what happened to the duo in the following years was pretty devastating. The Grammy they had won for Best New Artist had to be given back. There was even a lawsuit against their record label Arista for duped fans to claim back rebates. The duo made desperate attempts to prove their credibility and singing chops throughout the 1990s that all flopped, and the fall from grace unfortunately played a big part in the 1998 death of Pilatus. A cautionary tale if ever there was one.

1. The literal rise and fall of Lawn Chair Larry

The story of Larry Walters — or Lawn Chair Larry, as he became widely known — is as strange and tragic as it gets. So, Larry had a childhood dream to fly, and boy did he do so, in the most bizarre way possible. On July 2, 1982, he 42 tied weather balloons to an aluminum lawn chair, and armed with a pistol to burst them, floated into the sky. The balloons took him up to 16,000 feet into the sky, but his life was saved by cops cutting off the electricity as he descended towards power lines.

A sad ending

But what happened in the aftermath? Well, upon his improbably safe landing, Larry was arrested by L.A. police, and soon he was charged over interfering with commercial air space and for flying a non-airworthy craft. He spent a couple of days in the slammer before being released. Sadly, Larry would not cope well with the loss of his newfound fame and died by his own hand in 1993. Still, as he once said, “So many people have dreams and they never follow through on them.” And in a life that was tragically cut short, he certainly did that. But, of course, there are plenty of ’80s stars remembered for being outrageously talented and drop-dead gorgeous. Where are they now?