Despite the media's undying efforts to uncover every detail surrounding celebrities, some still believe that they can pull the wool over our eyes. While their attempts have ultimately been futile, you have got to show respect for some of the greatest scams pulled in Tinseltown.
Here are the Top 3 Celebrity Con Jobs.
1. MILLI VANILLI
Milli Vanilli easily walk into the number 1 spot. Or perhaps just pretend to walk into the number 1 spot, while other people move their legs for them.
Before we were fooled into believing that Ashleigh Simpson's CD player blaring over million-dollar sound equipment at a live event was actually her singing (and that maybe, just maybe she had some talent), we saw Milli Vanilli in the most infamous lip-synching scandal of all time.
Milli Vanilli shot to fame in the late 80's and the duo even went on to win a Grammy award in 1990. The problem here?
They had not sung one word on any of their albums!
The vocals had, in fact, been provided by the "unmarketables" who desperately needed a prettier face on the album cover.
Unmarketable.
Oh so marketable.
At least this is what Frank Farian believed when he found Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus dancing in a German nightclub and decided they would be the front men for his new act. (Sure Frank, they were "dancers," and it was a "dance club" -- if your wife believes it, so do we.)
Unfortunately, Milli Vanilli did not have the luxury of iPods or CD players to pull off the hoax. They had to rely on something more like this:
When their high-tech people-fooling gadget malfunctioned at an MTV concert, people started asking questions:
Who is really singing on the album?
Why am I at a Milli Vanilli Concert?
Did you order the code red?
This prompted a media frenzy, which culminated in the revelation that Rob and Fab were not the actual singers on the album. Tears were shed, Grammy's were revoked and money was lost.
2. Riley Weston
Ah, Riley Weston (AKA Kimberley Kramer), the woman who pulled the wool so far over Hollywood executive's eyes that hordes of Australian men suddenly found them inexplicably attractive.
Like any self-respecting actress, Riley lied about her age to get more work and at age 32 she landed a bit part in the series "Felicity." The kicker on this con job is that she shaved so many years off her age that she landed a role playing a teenager.
Riley had always looked young for her age, and her dimunitive size (4 foot 11 inches) helped sell the con.
Riley at age 16
Her "unique perspective and insight" into the lives of teenagers resulted in producers offering her a job writing for the show. Soon after, she was featured in Entertainment Weekly's "100 Most Creative People in Hollywood" list, and just like that Riley had arrived. Everyone wanted a piece of this teen genius and she was ultimately offered a $300,000.00 contract writing for Touchstone Pictures.
Her con was eventually exposed after Entertainment Tonight began working on a segment about the 19 year old wunderkind. Needless to say, the red-faced big wigs in Hollywood did not renew her contract.
3. JAMES FREY
If we learn only one thing from James Frey's con job, it should be that you never mess with Oprah.
She will eat you. If Stedman were allowed to speak, he would have told us this a long time ago.
James Frey wrote the bestseller "A Million Little Pieces," and sold it to publishers as his factual memoirs. The book told the story of a 23 year-old alcoholic and drug abuser's journey through the 12 steps of rehabilitation. The book was wildly successful and even made its way into Oprah's Book Club.
When The Smoking Gun website started investigating claims made in the book, it was revealed that James was not quite the degenerate addict that he portrayed in the book. He was something far worse. He was a liar.
Now, we expect Oprah to be able to cope with degenerate drug addicts, but liars? Surely not!
Oprah would not stand for it, and invited him onto her show where she proceeded to spank James repeatedly for being a filthy liar on her show.
Frey's life went downhill after that interview, litigation ensued and book deals were cancelled. If he did not have interesting memoirs before, he certainly does now.
Did we miss any famous celebrity con jobs, hoaxes, or outright lies? Let us know below!
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