7 Celebrities Who Have Been Accused Of Creepy Acts And Child Abuse

Hollywood – and the entertainment industry as a whole – is quite protective of their own…until they’re not. After Harvey Weinstein’s allegations went mainstream, suddenly everyone saw what a liability he was, and many women (and men) came forward to express how suspicious his behavior had seemed. 

At the same time, there are many people in showbiz who have been accused of creepy acts or even outright sexual abuse, but they have somehow evaded consequences that your everyday person might otherwise face if accused of such bad behavior.

Now more than ever, many former child stars feel comfortable sharing their experiences allegedly facing abuse while growing up in the industry after the documentary Quiet on Set was released and exposed Nickelodeon's notorious head honcho Dan Schneider. Allegations against celebrities continue to be unearthed, so we rounded up just a few of the most notable ones. 

Note: While many of the following individuals have not been formally charged with crimes or sentenced to serve any time, potentially predatory, problematic behavior is certainly worth investigation and discussion.

1. Madonna

Back in 2006, pop singer Madonna founded a non-profit charity to support orphans and at-risk youth called Raising Malawi. But, in 2023, the Ethiopian World Federation (EWF) accused Madonna of sexually exploiting and trafficking Malawian children.

The organization called for Malawi’s government to investigate this charity and "restrict her and her associates' accessibility to Africa and to African children as a precautionary measure until a thorough investigation is done into child trafficking, sex exploitation, sexual slavery, adoption reversal, threat of coercion, fraud, deception and abuse of power or vulnerability."

What’s more, the EWF also alleged that Madonna has used her own adopted Malawian son, David Banda, for “social experiments” and “sexual exploitation.” If their sources are true, then Madonna falsely claimed that David’s father was absent when she had applied for his adoption. 

Madonna has three more adopted Malawian children – Mercy James, Estere, and Stella – but when she tried to adopt Mercy James in 2009, the Malawi court originally rejected her bid. The judge said, “Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect.”

2. Jamie Lee Curtis

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis was caught last year with a disturbing piece of “artwork” hung in her house. The artwork in question depicted a potentially naked child in a wash tub of sorts, though some people originally thought the child was stuffed in a suitcase.

This all came to light when Curtis posted a photo on Instagram of her office to show some chairs she had taken home from the set of Everything Everywhere All At Once. After netizens saw how strange the “art” looked she had hanging in her office, it came to light that the photographer behind the piece was Betsey Schneider. Schneider regularly photographs naked children and has been featured in collections with other photographers depicting vulnerable children in compromising or otherwise eerie circumstances.

Once she started catching heat, Curtis took down the photo and added a new Instagram post which read: “Last week I posed a picture of some chairs that included a photograph on the wall by an artist that was gifted to me 20 years ago. I understand it has disturbed some people. As I have said, I am a truth teller so here’s the truth. It’s a picture of a child, taken by her mother, of her playing in their backyard in a tub of water. Nothing more, nothing less. I took down the post because I didn’t want to keep something up that upset anyone.”

Some comments from supportive people online dismissed any further scrutiny and frankly sounded as though they were complicit in the sexualization of minors. 

One read: “If you see an innocent picture of a child and instantly your mind jumps to sexualisation, then that’s your problem to unpack, nobody else’s."

Apparently, there's no concern whatsoever about a naked child being used as art – the problem is actually those of us who find it to be inappropriate.

Another said, “I saw the post and only noticed the chairs. Please don’t give in to these people. If it brings you joy share it.” 

We see chairs. We also see the naked child. It’s giving Podesta. And the fact of the matter is she apparently had someone else’s naked daughter on her wall for 20 years.

3. Dahvie Vanity

If you were a Myspace-going alt-chick or at least a scene kid-adjacent during the late aughts and early 2010s, you probably recall electronic pop band Blood on the Dance Floor (BOTDF). Jesus David Torres, known by his stage name Dahvie Vanity, has been hit with accusation upon accusation of sexual assault allegations. Yet, Vanity is still a free man.

The first allegation went public in 2007, but in 2019 HuffPost posted a huge exposé titled “Dahvie Vanity Raped A Child. Police Gave Him A Warning. Now 21 Women Accuse Him Of Sexual Assault.” Former fans started doing their own investigations, and entire allegation roundup posts began spreading on sites like Tumblr. The sexual assault accounts that HuffPost detailed eventually sparked Spotify to remove all of BOTDF’s songs from their streaming platform.

One alleged victim was 14 years old at the time she was reportedly assaulted by Vanity. Vanity, who was 22 at the time of this alleged incident, told Florida police that he didn’t know she was 14, and the case was eventually dropped after the victim chose not to press charges.

BOTDF amassed a huge fanbase of young girls and women despite their music being objectively violent, lewd, and perverse. This includes songs like “Revenge Porn” where Vanity sang about sexually humiliating women, “Sluts Get Guts” where Vanity sang about murdering women à la slasher films, “Bitches Get Stiches” where Vanity sang about women ending up in ditches, or “Ima Monster” where Vanity sang about ejaculating on women’s faces and breasts. 

So, connecting many dots here: Vanity was accused multiple times of being a sexual predator, his own former bandmates couldn’t condone his working behavior, and the subject matter of the music was obscene – to say the least. Hey, I get it, people can adopt stage personas, but something seems off here. 

Nevertheless, there’s a bunch of silence in lieu of any recent news surrounding Vanity’s reported crimes, including closure for the allegations. Apparently, the FBI has gotten involved in the case, but the most recent updates were from 2020. If this Instagram account is indeed his own, he appears to still be active producing new music and selling merch online.

4. James Franco

From Spider-Man to 127 Hours to Pineapple Express to The Disaster Artist and more – actor James Franco was a Hollywood heartthrob who had a brief – but seemingly quite legitimate – fall from grace before resurfacing on the acting scene.

In 2014, news surfaced that then 35-year-old Franco had been messaging a 17-year-old and asking her to come to his hotel room. The age of consent in New York was 17, so what he did wasn’t illegal (and yes, I say did because he later admitted this did happen), but then once the #MeToo movement got going, Franco got slapped with more allegations.

In 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported on five women who knew Franco because he was their acting teacher and mentor at his school Studio 4. They accused him of sexually exploitative and inappropriate behavior. Initially, Franco denied these allegations.

Well, lawsuits got filed in 2019, and by 2021, Franco had apparently settled them. He has admitted to having sex with some former acting students and has publicly announced his sex addiction. 

Perhaps he has put in the work to make amends and perhaps he is worthy of a redemption arc, but we have yet to see if he can actually make a full comeback. As of the time of this article’s publication, he’s slated as an actor in seven upcoming films. Will the internet forgive and forget? 

5. Drake

Former actor and current musician Drake has caught heat for allegedly grooming young girls and women. One of the first notable incidents, that the internet recently dug back up again, took place in 2010 around the beginning of his career at a venue called the Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colorado. 

Apparently, at this concert, Drake (24 at the time) kissed the neck and cheek of an underaged fan and hugged her from behind. Mind you, this took place after learning her age (17) and then was heard to say, “I can’t go to jail yet, man!”

A few years later, rumors were spreading that 27-year-old Drake was romantically involved with Kylie Jenner (16 at the time), but these rumors have not been confirmed beyond some claims made by Kanye West more recently. In 2018, however, Vice reported that Drake (31 at the time) was dating an 18-year-old model named Bella Harris – which isn’t a crime whatsoever, but allegedly the two had met when Harris was only 16.

At face value, it seems like Drake is just into youthful women, but people have grown suspicious of a few more recent friendships (or maybe, relationships?) that have come to light. 

When singer Billie Eilish was about to turn 18, she made an Instagram post captioned “18 tomorrow,” on which Drake allegedly commented, “I’ve been waiting 🎉🥵,” mere minutes later. Some say this was a doctored image, but nevertheless, Eilish has gone on the record saying he’s “the nicest dude I’ve ever spoken to” and commenting that “Everybody’s so sensitive. A grown man can’t be a fan of an artist?” 

Skepticism from fans about Eilish isn’t totally unfounded, since many also have taken issue with his friendship with actress Millie Bobby Brown. When they met in 2017, Brown was 13, and Drake was 31. The two apparently texted often, and he even told her, “I miss you so much,” to which she responded, “I miss you more!”

Brown once told an interviewer that Drake gives her advice about boys and said, “I love him,” but when the interviewer tried to get more details about the boy advice, she said, “You know, that stays in the text messages.” 

Since there’s no reported criminal behavior, we can’t just cancel Drake for having friends or being a mentor…innocent until proven guilty! But, it is worth noting how creepy it can seem for a mature adult man to be friends with a young teenage girl. And if you really are a mature male mentor, perhaps don’t pick teenage girls to be your mentees?

6. P. Diddy

Within the past year, multiple women have come forward accusing popular rapper P. Diddy (also known as Puff Daddy but born Sean Love Combs) of sexual misdeeds. Last year, singer Cassie Ventura accused him of repeated physical abuse, rape, and sex trafficking. Ventura brought a federal lawsuit against Diddy, but only one day later they reached a settlement “amicably.” 

However, in a bombshell story recently released by journalist Liz Crokin, Diddy has now been tied to new sex trafficking allegations.

Now, multiple individuals are claiming they suffered misconduct and abuse by Diddy, and the internet has even been abuzz with Jeffrey Epstein comparisons. Diddy faces major legal scrutiny for sex trafficking and assault allegations, but his son King Combs was also hit with a lawsuit for alleged sexual assault during a yacht party in 2022.

At the end of March, Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida, were raided by federal agents. Diddy called both the allegations and these raids a “witch hunt,” and the story is still developing.

7. Steven Tyler

Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and has had an undeniably illustrious musical career, but the singer has a pretty suspicious past. 

In 1975, Tyler allegedly entered into a relationship with a 16-year-old groupie named Julia Holcomb. Tyler (27 at the time) even convinced Holcomb’s parents to sign over guardianship so the underaged girl could move to Boston and live with him.

Holcomb recently filed a lawsuit where many more details became public since California legislation was passed in January 2023 that temporarily waived the statute of limitation for sexual abuse allegations in childhood.

If the story is to be believed, they dated, did drugs together, and eventually Holcomb became unexpectedly pregnant at age 17, but Tyler insisted that she abort their unborn child. After three years, the two broke up. Holcomb has reported that the abortion left her traumatized.

What’s more, in one Aerosmith autobiography released in 1997, Tyler wrote about a different relationship with a 14-year-old girl and had some lewd details to share about Holcomb: “She was 16, she knew how to nasty, and there wasn’t a hair on it [...] With my bad self being 26 and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her. She was a cute skinny little tomboy dressed up as Little Bo Peep. She was my heart’s desire, my partner in crimes of passion.”

Some may write off Tyler’s behavior as part-and-parcel of the rockstar lifestyle, but others may rightfully point out how some people’s highs cause other people’s lows. For instance, Tyler fathered a baby with former Playboy Playmate Bebe Buell – a child who would grow up to be actress Liv Tyler. But, for most of Liv’s early life, she was under the impression that her father was musician Todd Rundgren. 

Why? Buell and Rundgren were apparently trying to protect Liv from her biological father’s drug addiction. She allegedly does not hold any ill will toward Buell or Stephen Tyler, but from an outsider’s perspective, it’s pretty unfortunate that a girl would grow up not knowing the identity of her real father nor that she had a younger sister.

Tyler has reportedly tried to make “amends” by donating $500,000 for a safe haven facility in Memphis, Tennessee, for neglected or abused girls, so perhaps he should be given the benefit of the doubt. But it’s clear that there was some risky sexual behavior going on nonetheless.

Closing Thoughts

Look, not every allegation is the gospel truth. We can’t blindly trust sources without verification. However, when allegation upon allegation begins to stack up, and many entertainment industry insiders even come forward to say that Hollywood is full of protected predators (or just creeps!), then there is good reason to look into a celeb’s background before supporting them. 

It’s true, creative types can have some quirky, erratic, or just outright bizarre behavior. But when that behavior negatively impacts the people around them and even devolves into sexually manipulative behavior, then we have to draw a firm line – especially when it impacts innocent children who aren’t able to consent.

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