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Fawn Hall
Starlet in the Iran-Contra Scandal that splashed across the headlines in 1986 and 1987, Fawn Hall was Colonel Oliver North’s devoted secretary when he “rode point” on the Reagan administration’s plans to sell arms to friendly factions in Iran and use the proceeds to fund Nicaraguan “Contra” rebels. Granted immunity in exchange for her testimony before Congress, comely twenty-something Hall lit-up CNN screens for two days during the summer of 1989, largely corroborating North’s testimony about wholesale destruction of documents related to the “arms for hostages” deal. In particularly salacious testimony, Hall described smuggling documents out of the office in her underwear. Penthouse and Playboy magazines engaged in a very public bidding war for the privilege of photographing her mostly naked; the bidding was more exciting than any of the photos that followed. Her celebrity launched a much-photographed but short-lived dalliance with actor Rob Lowe; later,she married rock promoter Danny Sugerman and retreated into relative obscurity.
Heidi Fleiss
The Hollywood Madam whose frequent media appearances and forthright descriptions of her activities prompted both local Los Angeles and Federal investigations. Leaks to the press from Federal wiretaps strongly suggested Fleiss’s regular patrons included a number of media, sports, and government luminaries, but Fleiss herself never corroborated any of the reports. The government failed to make its case against her for pandering, but the Federal courts subsequently convicted her of tax evasion, for which she served thirty-seven months. After her release, Fleiss retreated to a reclusive home in the desert; but, in 2010, she returned to the media and prominence when she appeared on “Celebrity Rehab” with Dr. Drew Pinsky. During her time at the Pasadena Recovery Center, Fleiss was reunited with Tom Sizemore, movie actor convicted of domestic battery after she filed charges against him in 2003. For the most part, their time in rehab was amicable and incident-free. At one time, reliable sources reported Fleiss was engaged to Dennis Hof, owner of Nevada’s notorious “Moonlite Bunny Ranch,” a legal brothel.
Monica Lewinski
The White House intern who helped a generation redefine the meaning of “intercourse” and who proved that the Gap does make cocktail dresses in navy blue while inadvertently contributing to President Clinton’s impeachment. Also the spark plug that ignited First Lady Hilary Clinton’s famous televised tirade in which she alleged the entire scandal was the product of “a vast right-wing conspiracy.” Without denying his involvement with Lewinski, President Clinton fiercely averred, “I did not have …ual relations with that woman.” Two phrases from the denial echoed extra loud. When forensic testing revealed semen on Lewinski’s little blue dress, well-placed sources confirmed that Lewinski had performed oral on the cheater-in-chief. Therefore, children of the nineties properly and legally inferred that oral is not “intercourse.” Contrary to the conventional wisdom, however, Congress did not impeach Clinton because of the affair; instead, the indictment maintained Clinton had committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” when he obstructed the inquiry into his dalliance with Lewinski. After a brief period of self-imposed exile, Lewinski re-emerged for a brief stint as a talk-show hostess.
Lindsay Lohan
Lohan first dominated the screen and press as Walt Disney Productions’ pre-eminent tween and teen star, bursting on the scene in the two leading roles of the studio’s spectacularly successful remake of The Parent Trap. Lohan immediately became one of Hollywood’s most bankable young stars and one of its leading models, gracing literally thousands of magazine covers, and posing for hundreds of high-powered advertising campaigns. Lohan modeled for Abercrombie and Fitch and most of the world’s leading photographers, who found her fresh-faced innocence absolutely compelling. As she came-of-age, however, Lohan turned into American tabloids’ “favorite trainwreck,” addicted to cocaine and several times arrested for driving under the influence. Although she continued to work in Europe, Lohan destroyed her American career and alienated even her most loyal fans, growing increasingly dangerous and destructive with each new well-publicized spectacle. On July 6, 2010, a Los Angeles judge sentenced her to jail for violating the terms of her probation on one of the DUI charges.
Rachel Uchitel
First of the falling dominoes in the Tiger Woods scandal: Details of the golfer’s affair with the New York City night club hostess leaked to the press late in November, 2009, and Uchitel revealed text messages and other evidence of the depth and duration of their involvement. The disclosures, in turn, triggered the infamous late-night fight between Woods and his wife, Elin. Allegedly drunk and disoriented, Woods managed to pilot his luxury SUV into a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree, injuring himself and doing some minor property damage, but mostly destroying his own public image. Throughout the sensationalized scandal, Uchitel maintained she believed her relationship with Woods was deep, serious, and committed; she believed Woods intended to leave his wife and marry her.
Uchitel first attracted public attention as New York’s “face of tragedy” when a pool photographer captured her holding a picture of Andy O’Grady, her fiancé, a victim of the World Trade Center atrocities. After her “discovery,” she worked intermittently as a reporter for E! and several television production companies. Most recently, Uchitel appeared on “Celebrity Rehab,” where she worked through her “addiction to prescription painkillers and love.” In November, 2010, Uchitel told The Daily Mail, “Instead of filling themselves with booze or drugs, love addicts become emotionally invested in a series of bad relationships. Since I lost Andy, I have always been looking for the perfect man. I wanted a man who would marry me, give me the house and children I long for. I plunged headfirst into relationships which I should never have been in.’
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