14 Celebrities Who Had to Set the Record Straight on Wack Myths and Lies
Just because someone chose to be famous, and chooses to remain in the zeitgeist on a daily basis, and carefully crafts an aura of mystique, and makes money from everyone paying attention to them, doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to just say or think stuff about them! Have you ever heard of privacy?!
Did Richard Gere Do That Whole Gerbil Thing? He Says Sylvester Stallone Made It Up
Decades ago, a press release ostensibly from the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals decried Gere’s animal abuse after he allegedly had to have a gerbil surgically removed from his b-hole. He says it was all made up, specifically by his longtime nemesis Stallone: “I stopped reading the press a long time ago. Lots of crazy things came up about me at first, especially from the tabloids. There is an infamous ‘Gere stuck a hamster up his bum’ urban myth.”
Did Steve From Blues Clues OD? Nope!
When the character Steve abruptly left the show to go to college, all kinds of grotesque rumors spread — most notably, that actor Steve Burns had died of a drug overdose. Burns let those rumors simmer for four years before revealing in 2006’s Behind the Clues: 10 Years with Blue that he was just mourning his receding hairline: “I knew I wasn’t going to be doing children’s television all my life. Mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kids TV show, and it was happening fast.”
Does Halle Berry Have Six Toes? Ellen Got Her to Make Her Case in Signature Invasive Style
Berry brought up the six-toe rumor on Ellen’s show: “Except there is a rumor; can I clear that up while we're talking about my feet? I do not have six toes.” To which Ellen replied, “Let's take a look. The only way to prove it.” Sure enough, Berry released her dawgz in front of a live studio audience.
Is Avril Lavigne Dead? Like, Why Would You Even Think That?
Lavigne is the center of one of the weirdest, most pervasive myths in pop culture: Her management recruited a doppelganger in the early 2000s to help shoulder the weight of stardom, and it worked so well that, when she died in 2003, her double was able to seamlessly manage her career solo. Avril has addressed it: “Yeah, some people think that I’m not the real me, which is so weird! Like, why would they even think that?” Sounds like something a doppelganger would say.
Did Dana Carvey Really Hold a Moment of Silence on 9/11 in Full Turtle Costume? He Sure Did!
In 2023 he finally confirmed the rumors: “I was in (the costume) all that day and then they said, ‘We’re going to have a group prayer about 9/11.’ And I couldn’t get the thing — I would’ve held everyone for a half hour getting all that prosthetic makeup off… I’m dressed as the Turtle Man, with a bald head, and I’m holding hands and I'm lowering my head and praying.”
Did Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak Have Kids Together? Mind Your Plate
The two dated when they were young Office stars, and have remained close ever since. When asked repeatedly if Novak is the biological father of her kids, Kaling has answered that he’s their godfather, and that she’s “not going to talk to anyone else about” the family situation until she’s talked to her kids. So ultimately: maybe, but who cares?
Can Lea Michelle Read? Does It Really Matter?
Much ink has been spilled about what it’s like to work with Michelle, much of it unflattering. One pervasive rumor is that she couldn’t read, to which she’s said, “I went to Glee every single day; I knew my lines every single day. And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is.” Not the most convincing response on this list, but she does go on to make a fair point: “I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case.”
Is Harry Styles Wearing a Piece? His Friends Won’t Quit Razzing Him
Styles’ buddy Tom Hull sends him every rumor and meme he can find that posits he’s bald and secretly sporting a wig: “He won’t stop sending me messages about (people) trying to work out if I’m bald.” Styles goes on to do a little cocktail napkin heredity to dispel the myth: “What is it with baldness? If your grandad’s bald then you’ll be bald? Well, my granddad wasn’t bald, so fingers crossed.”
Did Cameron Diaz Invent the Whole ‘Washing Your Face With Expensive Water’ Thing?
That one buff dude got hyper-famous for bathing in fancy glass-bottle water 10 times a day, and rumor once had it that Diaz pulled the same bougie bullshit. In reality, it was an out-of-context quote about on-set life: “We live our lives in trailers, like circus folk. People don’t realize that it’s super-unglamorous, and the water comes from tanks they put chemicals in so that it doesn’t freeze. You would never wash your face with it. So anyone who washes their face at work would have to use bottled water to wash their face.”
Is Kim Kardashian a Lousy Photoshopper? Yes, and Khloe’s a Bad Liar
Khloe posted pictures of her daughter’s first visit to Disney, apparently forgetting that six months earlier, fans called out Kim for photoshopping Khloe’s daughter’s face over Kylie’s daughter’s face in Disney pictures. That was confusing, I know; there are too many Kardashians. Anyway, Khloe fessed up, tweeting: “Welllppp I fucked this one up.”
Is Steve Martin in Mensa? Do Your Research, ‘The New York Times’!
The New York Times Crossword dropped the hint: “Elite group whose members include Steve Martin and Geena Davis.” The answer was supposed to be Mensa, but Martin had to clarify: “Hey NYT crossword, FYI, I’m not a member of Mensa and never have been. Just a regler guy.”
Did Scarlett Johansson Have an Elevator Tryst? Nah, Too Much Choreography
There was a rumor following her around for a while that she’d hooked up with someone in an elevator. In her own defense, she said, “I always thought that was outrageous. I was always thinking to myself, ‘That would be tough. It’s a very short period — the logistics of that seem so unappealing to me.’”
Did Jennifer Lopez Insure Her Butt? She Says She Couldn’t if She Tried
While there are indeed celebrities who have insured their various and sundry moneymakers, Lopez says she’s not one of them. When James Corden asked about a pervasive rumor she’d had it insured for $1 million, she said, “No! I don’t even — there is no such thing as that!”
Did Jada Pinkett Smith Hook Up With Her Son’s Friend? Yeah, and Everyone’s Being Very Normal About It
Rumors came to head, forcing Jada and Will to discuss the whole ordeal very publicly on Red Table Talk. Jada had a fling with Jaden’s friend August Alsina, but they collectively set the record straight: They were in an open relationship, but Will hated it, but he gave August permission, but also August didn’t need his permission. See? Very normal.