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“That Is Next Level Betrayal”: 52 Of The Biggest Backstabbing Moments In Hollywood
Betrayal, and all its forms, are part of life. At some point, we have all experienced being deceived, double-crossed, and let down, sometimes by the people we trust the most.
It just so happens that treachery in Hollywood automatically gets attention. Celebrity figures showing their flawed selves tend to draw immense curiosity because they are in the limelight, and in this case, for all the wrong reasons.
Here are some of those stories of backstabbings and acts of disloyalty among A-listers, many of which happened long ago but remain fresh in people’s minds.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Old Hollywood tea: Anthony Perkins was undergoing treatment for facial palsy when the nurse who was treating him secretly took his blood samples and tested them for HIV. When the results came back positive, instead of informing Perkins about his results, the nurse sold the story to The National Enquirer. The National Enquirer then published the story. Perkins himself had no idea that he was HIV-positive and only learned about it because he saw the magazine cover while waiting in line at the grocery store.
Cat_Dylan:
Whoa. That is next level betrayal in the most vulnerable situation. So disgusting.
RELATED:
#2
Justin cheating on Selena with everyone under the moon (yes even hookers AND Hailey, Sofia, Halsey, practically any living woman) then marrying Hailey 2 months after being in couples therapy with Selena 😭 he’s nuts!
greennoodlehair:
He’s trash. All those women could do so much better.
meeeeeeeeeeee 2 days ago
I think he just wanted a sycophant who would be like a nurse/therapist/whatever else to him.
#3
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West manipulating the audio clip from Taylor Swift.
amb3ergris:
This was really so evil. They watched as people really turned on Taylor from their lie.
Perfectstorms29:
They were jealous because she was on top, living her best life. No one can handle extremely talented and beautiful women apparently.
#4
Kenneth Branagh cheating on his then-wife, Emma Thompson, with Helena Bonham-Carter. Kenneth and Emma were such a power couple, and it’s just sooooo grimy and predictable to have an affair with the younger star of the film you’re directing 🥴
Emma ended up with Greg Wise, who seems like a gem and ended up being the much better catch. They’ve been together for thirty years!
highwaycrossingfrog 2 days ago
I've met both Greg Wise and Kenneth Branagh. Greg is indeed a gem, and Ken is a d**k.
#5
For me it is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. What they did to Jennifer wasn't just cheating, it was like how they gaslighted her and used their PR to slam her because they were cheaters. Jen is such a strong person but man those two were just heartless, especially Brad because he was married to Jennifer and knows she didn't deserve [what] he put her through because he is a POS..
It is one of those situation you had to be there to see how nasty and a piece of work those two trolls are, let me not start with the lies, Miss Jolie, I could never cheat because of what my dad did to my mom. Bleaugh! The girl has been doing it for more than half her life. The lies, the lies. Ask Laura Dern.
Divine_fashionva:
I said this on another thread, but Brad’s continuous PR campaign implying Jen never wanted kids and praising how much Angelina loved kids is still one of the cruelest things I’ve seen a celebrity do publicly.
He was so relentless. It makes me think about whether he really truly loves any of the women he’s with. The way he treats them when he’s no longer interested/happy with them is so cold and disgusting. He’s doing the same thing with Angelina now.
He’s such a cruel person and i remember reading an old Gq interview where Jennifer said Matt Leblanc was worried Brad was the stereotypical movie star who is arrogant, cheats and lies. Then he realised he wasn’t after seeing him and Jen as a couple. The irony is Brad treated her exactly how Matt initially assumed he would
hannahbahngswife 2 days ago
I love F1 but was so disappointed that he was casted as the lead. Never watched the movie because of it. They could do much better and had better actors to hire.
#6
Billy Bob Thornton married Angelina Jolie while he was engaged to Laura Dern. Laura was off filming a movie and she found out about it because Billy and Angelina announced it to the press. She said she came home to find that her fiance was now someone else's husband.
#7
George Lopez’s wife at the time giving him a kidney transplant , only for him to turn around and cheat on her. I looked at him differently since hearing this a few years ago. He’s trash
#8
Jada Smith explaining to her husband how she slept with their son’s friend. All on camera, all on this [nonsense] podcast video that she put together.
#9
Ariana Grande and her SpongeBob boyfriend. Knowingly having an affair with a married man whose wife just gave birth to his son. And then Mr. SpongeBob leaves his wife and baby for her??Ariana preaches feminism and portrays herself as sweet and innocent but I don’t believe it for a second. They are both horrible people and backstabbers. She’s not a good role model for woman.
shmizla 2 days ago
Honestly, yes, Ariana shouldn't have done that and she probably really isn't a good role model for women (I honestly don't think ANY celebrity is) but trashing only her here is stupid and makes no sense. He was the one who was married, not her. His wife just gave birth to his baby, not Ariana's. He left them. He cheated, not her. So how is this only her fault?
Skogsrået 2 days ago
Read it several times, nowere does it say it's all her fault. But just like Angelina Jolie, Adriana Grande wants to control her image and make herself look like a great person, feminist and role model. Truth is none of them are.
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Peeka_Mimi 2 days ago
That and the eating disorder is why she isn't a good role model for young women. She won't acknowledge it and she is clearly skeletal.
Bored Sailor 2 days ago
How is this not talked about more. Only a few years ago anorexia was talked about as a major health concern.
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Janelle Collard 2 days ago (edited)
And they've snce broken up. 😁 Howdy Doody's back on the market, y'all. 🤡
JayWantsACat 2 days ago
Except cheating with someone has nothing to do with "feminism". It's asinine that so many people thinks being a feminist just means you're nice to every woman ever or that you can't criticize women or a cheater. lmao I'm not going mansplain any further so please educate yourself.
#10
Eddie Fisher & Elizabeth Taylor vs. Debbie Reynolds.
AC10021:
This. Debbie discovered that her good friend “borrowed” her husband. And was publicly humiliated when they ran off and got married.
anon:
That one still hurts! Debbie didn't deserve that.
buzzfeed_sucks:
A classic.
Elizabeth Taylor lost her husband in an airplane accident. Her good friends Debbie Reynolds and Debbie’s husband, Eddie Fisher, helped her through her grief.
Only for Elizabeth and Eddie to have an affair. He left Debbie for Elizabeth. She subsequently left him for Richard Burton.
Norfolk and good 2 days ago (edited)
Just to show how classy Debbie Reynolds was, she eventually forgave Taylor, albeit many years later, and they became friends again.
#11
Dave bloody Grohl cheating on his Wife and children.. Absolutely loved him and the.Foo Fighters before. Can't really listen now tbh.
#12
This is going way back, but Elia Kazan (director of On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire, and grandfather to Zoe), famously testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, and named eight friends and colleagues as communists. This was, of course, during the time of the Hollywood Blacklist, when being labelled a communist made you a pariah in the industry, and meant you couldn’t get any work.
His decision to testify followed him for the rest of his career. When he was given the Honorary Oscar at the 1999 Academy Awards, at least a quarter of the audience refused to stand up, including Nick Nolte and Ed Harris. (Harris looked incredibly pissed off.).
sofacushionfort 2 days ago
He’d be blacklisted himself if he didn’t name names, so he named people who’d already been named and blacklisted. Not as admirable as a self sacrifice on moral principle but not as bad a a Judas goat.
#13
Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 2 days ago (edited)
This was such a mountain out of a molehill. It was a nípple. The US went nuts over the sort of thing you can see in UK tabloids.
#14
Billy Crudup leaving Mary Louise-Parker for Claire Danes.
CaseyRC:
Danes whole "Oh i was only 24 I didn't know the consequences"....you weren't FOUR, you were in your mid-20s, the consequences of pursuing a man in a 7 year relationship with a baby ont he way are freaking obvious from space. ugh, 24 is more than old enough to know what will happen.
HaddaHeart:
I was actually 7 months pregnant with my son in 2003 when I found out his dad had cheated. This happened shortly after and really hit home. I think that’s why it’s stuck with me all this time!
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
What on earth is up with all these people who cheat when a partner is pregnant or just had a baby?? Not that there’s ever a good time to cheat….but that has to be one of the worst.
#15
How about when Julia Roberts called out her now husband ex wife Vera by wearing a shirt 'A Low Vera' because Vera was unwilling to divorce Danny. Julia is so shady, but because the world is so unfair she is still happily married to Danny.
#16
"Wife Guy" John Mulaney cheating on and leaving his wife for homewrecker Olivia Munn.
emlab kerba 2 days ago
I don't know about naming him "wife guy." He did some jokes about his wife. That's about it.
#17
In the early 90s, Gary Oldman [left] to New York, leaving his first wife back in England who just gave birth to their son and started dating 19 year old Uma Thurman….
Leaving your baby that’s fresh out of the womb is crazyyyy.
Norfolk and good 2 days ago
That "first wife" being Lesley Manville CBE. A highly esteemed actress of the stage and screen, winner of two Laurence Olivier awards and an Oscar nominee.
#18
There’s so many. Shania Twain's bestie [sleeping with] her husband was a big one for me personally.
Enough_Chemistry2284:
Shania and her bestie swapping husbands is just so crazy.
#19
This one makes me laugh. They’re now friends.
Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to tricking Sylvester Stallone into doing the movie "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot". He said he and his agent pretended to be interested in the movie, knowing Stallone would also be interested, to encourage him to take the role. Stallone ended up starring in "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot", a film that is widely considered a flop. This was part of their competitive rivalry in the 1990s.
London Paris 2 days ago
Thats not "back stabbing": thats trolling and rivalry. Both 'actors' were vying for the same type of role, action star, and rheir eivalry was rhe stuff of legend.
#21
It wasn’t just a moment but Joan Crawford versus Bette Davis during the filming of « Whatever happened to baby Jane ». Each have as good as they got. Sounds like the filming was one long cat fight.
Michael Melfa 2 days ago
Bette Davis on Joan Crawford's death: "You should never say bad things about the dead, only good. Joan Crawford is dead. Good."
#22
A big one I can think of is when Mariah Carey got blackballed by her ex-husband who was a record executive after giving him so much. This also helped J-LO spawn a successful career.
#23
Apparently Nicolas Cage and Jim Carrey were friends since they co-starred in Peggy Sue Got Married.
Years later they were both up for the role of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Apparently Carrey convinced Cage that neither of them should have to audition for this part, given their stature as actors. Carrey then went an auditioned and got the role.
Zig Zag Wanderer 2 days ago
TBH Carey was a thousand times better at that role than Cage would have been
#24
Denise Richards swooped in for Richie Sambora only 2 months after she encouraged her best friend Heather Locklear to divorce him.
CreepySwing567:
This is why I didn’t buy her victimized hippie mom act on rhobh. We all know she can be just as manipulative and backstabbing as Rinna and Kyle she just got outplayed on camera.
#25
It's a betrayal of another kind but Elia Kazan.
Orson Welles was asked a question about Kazan at the Cinémathèque française in Paris. Welles replied:
"Chère mademoiselle, you have chosen the wrong metteur en scène, because Elia Kazan is a traitor. He is a man who sold to McCarthy all his companions at a time when he could continue to work in New York at high salary, and having sold all his people to McCarthy, he then made a film called On the Waterfront which was a celebration of the informer."
London Paris 2 days ago
McCarthyism, the red scare The Elia Kazan controversy primarily stems from his 1952 testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he named former members of the Communist Party, including playwright Clifford Odets and others actors. He got praised, they got blacklisted.
#26
The whole Pique and Shakira cheating thing. Like even his mom was involved in the incident. Who cheats on Shakira? At least the housekeeper or nanny was a real one for telling her.
#27
Lee Majors requesting that his then buddy Ryan O'Neal "keep an eye out" for Lee's wife Farrah Fawcett while Majors was out of town.
We all know how well Ryan kept his promise.😏🙄.
Lee Gilliland 2 days ago
Fawcett and Majors were already having major problems long before that happened.
#28
Hulk Hogan, the list of people is too long, but heres a few examples. He betrayed every wrestler, Jesse Ventura was trying organize a union for wrestlers; that in 2025 they still dont have; Hogan being the top talent went against them and reported it to Vince McMahon. He was able to get a creative clause and used it as a tool to keep any rising talent down to the detriment of whatever promotion he was in. This year his own daughter spoke up against him, and the abuse she endured growing up. edit: i reread Brooke Hogan's post and it does seem she was referring to Linda Hogan as being verbally and physically a**sive, she is no contact with both her parents
#29
In 1964, Arthur Miller’s play, After the Fall, premiered on Broadway. Audiences and critics alike noticed its veiled and unflattering portrayal of his late former wife, Marilyn Monroe, and Miller allegedly was snubbed by Jackie Kennedy at a dinner party for what she considered to be an unforgivable betrayal on his part.
Edit
I’ve never watched or read the play but it’s crazy if it’s true that Jackie O of all people thought it was that distasteful to Marilyn that she allegedly never spoke to Arthur Miller again.
#30
Guy Ritchie leaving his girlfriend for Madonna out of the blue.
According to Robbie Williams (in the song “She’s Madonna” and subsequent interviews about it) Guy told her “You know I really love you but cmon she’s Madonna”
#31
David Harbour had a 3 year long affair while married to Lily Allen.
#32
I will never understand how no one has called out any of the Kardashians for using black women for clout while black phishing! They just throw them away when they are done! Black China, Jordan, Malikas twin……. I’m sure their are more!
#33
Jason Patric and Julia Roberts. Days before she was to marry Kiefer Sutherland. But Jason and Kiefer are now friends again.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
Julia Roberts sounds like one messed up person when it comes to relationships.
#34
Rock Hudson was in Paris in summer 1985. He had flown there to receive specialized treatment for AIDS, which was at that time only available from one doctor at one clinic in the Parisian suburb of Clamart.
Hudson had seen the same doctor for treatment before, but now he was gravely ill. His people reached out to his old friend Nancy Reagan, then First Lady of the United States, for emergency help getting a place in the clinic outside Paris. Hudson and the Reagans had been close for decades, and in fact they had hung out at the White House at a state dinner the year before.
Nancy turned him down.
Rock Hudson [passed away] at home in Los Angeles less than three months later. He was 59.
London Paris 2 days ago
Thats not actually true. Nancy reagan refused to intervene for Rock because she sidnt feel it was appropriate to pressure a french hospital to accept an American citizen. Realistically, if she had pressured the hospital administrator it would be seen as favouritism or coercion and would have inevitably led to orhers demanding the same favours.
#35
Nick Jonas losing his virginity to Miley Cyrus while also telling Selena that she was his first.
This all happened around the time Miley’s 7 things song came out which was about the back and forth between her nick and Selena. Pretty raw lyrics if we’re being Frank. Nick would go back and forth between them both and there was animosity during those Disney games that would air. Miley talked later about being insecure but realizing that it wasn’t beef between her and Selena, it was them being pitted against eachother by nick.
#36
I often think of Christian Horner leaving his partner of 14 years and newborn child in late 2013 and he began dating Geri in February/March 2014 and was later engaged that year. Interesting that Geri was spotted at some F1 races in 2013 and was seen talking with Christian.
#37
When Naomi Campbells Russian oligarch bf ran off with one of the contestants from that ANTM rip off she was in.
The model ended up getting dropped/blacklisted and the Russian and Naomi have been suing each other for years.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
Maybe Russian oligarchs (and their admirers) don’t make good partners. Who would’ve thought?
#38
The way Selena Gomez refers to her friend who gave her a kidney doesn't sit right with me.
Edit. The Selena stans are not happy with this comment lol.
bombastic-love:
For a long time Francia was often referred to as ‘selena’s kidney donor’ and was known for that instead of her own career. I’m guessing she wanted to publicly distance herself from that label so she wouldn’t forever be known as her kidney donor and nothing else
hannahbahngswife 2 days ago
I'm pretty sure giving away your kidney while you are healthy affects you. Poor woman willingly put herself through that to help who she thought was her friend Selena.
#39
Elton John telling Rod Stewart not to do the movie Tommy, then taking it for himself. Pinball Wizard is a great song though.
Not a big backstab as they are still friends, but I always think of it when I hear that song.
#40
Rebekah Vardy selling stories about Coleen Rooney to The Sun (Hollywood, Worcestershire).
ashlyyx:
".... it was Rebekah Vardy's account."
So iconic.
#41
Jay Leno using various forms of skullduggery to scoop the Tonight Show from under David Letterman's feet after Dave had Jay on his show more than any other guest at the time.
#42
Wasn’t the reason Paris and Nicole had such a falling out for such a long time was because Nicole played her [adult] tape at a house party?
ComprehensivePermit6:
A source close to Paris tells PEOPLE that Richie is jealous of the media attention her blonder costar receives and resents being left out of things like Hilton’s Feb. 5 hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. In fact, says the source, Richie tried to get even for that perceived slight by throwing a party to celebrate the SNL stint and then screening Paris’s infamous 2003 [adult] video instead.
“It’s no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends,” Hilton said in a statement Wednesday. “Nicole knows what she did, and that’s all I’m ever going to say about it.”
#43
For me, it’s Khloe Kardashian getting cheated on by Tristian Thompson when she was *DAYS* away from giving birth. Then, Tristan getting caught kissing Kylie Jenner’s bff. Finally, Tristan sleeping with another woman on his birthday when he was still dating Khloe and fathering another baby with that woman.
#45
Yolanda backstabbing Selena.
#46
Hillary Duff & Lindsay Lohan fighting over Aaron Carter is one of my faves.
stunnrshades:
Aaron recently gave an interview where he said that Hillary was the love of his life and he wouldn't give up until he had her back. Hillary was asked about it in another interview, and she just said something like, "Yeah, no... that was 20 years ago... cringe..."
Bored Retsuko 2 days ago
BP, you're so embarrassing for copy-pasting a 4 years old reddit thread without even bothering to proofread it. Aaron Carter is déäd now so the interview wasn't "recent".
#47
Adam McKay and Will Ferrall is a big one. Will wanted to do the tv show Winning Time that's on now. He only found out John got the part through the news I believe and he wanted to play that part really badly. He went no contact with him too I think. Very bad blood between them.
#48
Producer Jason Blum on former roommate Noah Baumbach.
“We were best friends,” Mr. Blum says. “When I graduated college, I moved to Chicago and I was roommates with Noah. We lived in this little one-bedroom apartment. I sold cable TV door to door. Noah wrote ‘Kicking and Screaming,’ and we decided together we were going to get that movie made.”
They moved to New York and Mr. Blum got his real-estate license. His father gave the script to one of his clients, Steve Martin, who let the would-be filmmakers use his letter praising it to shop it around. But after Mr. Blum helped get the movie up and running, he says, his friend cut him out. “Noah got what he needed from me and moved on,” he says.
Cydney Golden 5 hours ago
Baumbach also left his wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and kids for Greta Gerwig. His movie Marriage Story is based on that whole event.
#49
Heidi and Lauren. She knows what she did.
#51
I could be wrong but i think nina dobrev was besties with nikki reid before her and ian dated? anyone know more about that?
spllchksuks:
I don’t think they were besties but they definitely were friendly and shared the same social circles. And Nikki had already dated Derek Hough after Nina did but I don’t think Nina cared that much.
Ian seemed to do a total 180 and became very passive aggressive after their break up and she left TVD.
#52
Frank Sinatra made a okay for and dated Humphrey Bogart’s widow, the actress Lauren Bacall, after Bogie’s [passing].
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
?? If he waited until after Bogie dìed, what was wrong about it?
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What do you think ?
Gavin Johnson 2 days ago
‘Famous’ people can be just a stupid, thoughtless, flawed, hateful, jealous, rage filled and idiotic as every other member of society. They’ve the added interesting situation that they are surrounded by sycophants who simultaneously undermine and love b**b them but the stars love their egos being massaged so they fall for their own hype. In short, humans are idiots, they do idiotic things and we all do it to a greater or lesser extent.
Lady Eowyn 6 hours ago
Even when I knew who some of these people were, I almost never had any clue what they were talking about. Guess I don't follow the "right" type of gossip.
Gavin Johnson 2 days ago
‘Famous’ people can be just a stupid, thoughtless, flawed, hateful, jealous, rage filled and idiotic as every other member of society. They’ve the added interesting situation that they are surrounded by sycophants who simultaneously undermine and love b**b them but the stars love their egos being massaged so they fall for their own hype. In short, humans are idiots, they do idiotic things and we all do it to a greater or lesser extent.
Lady Eowyn 6 hours ago
Even when I knew who some of these people were, I almost never had any clue what they were talking about. Guess I don't follow the "right" type of gossip.
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