10 Dark Secrets That Expose the Truth About Hollywood

The exposure of mega-producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in Hollywood has cast a lot of light on the industry's dark side. If you've ever dreamed of being a big celebrity and renowned, you may want to reconsider your plans after experiencing what it's like to live in the spotlight. Money, celebrity, red carpet appearances, and millions of adoring admirers aren't the only attractions in Hollywood. There's also a lot of shallowness, abuse, and heartbreak, as well as a lot of criminality. Here are eleven dark secrets and terrifying tales from the entertainment world that will astound you.

1o. Paparazzi-For-Hire

If a celebrity appears to be posing in a staged photo in a tabloid or on a gossip website, they are most likely doing so. A photographer stated in 2016 that many celebrities setup their photos in order to have more control over their image. Kim Kardashian is one celebrity that has a personal photographer on speed dial. She texts the photographer on a regular basis and invites him to photograph her all around the world. Before images are sold to magazines, Kardashian reviews them and drastically edited them.

Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag of MTV's The Hills had a 50/50 deal with a business called Pacific Coast News long before Kardashian had the paparazzi in the palm of her hand. They'd pose for "cheesy over-the-top images" that would be sold to magazines all over the world. Pratt described it as "the best job ever," and he and Montag made over $1 million from the sale of their photographs. Celebs see it as a collaborative effort that benefits everyone involved, and their admirers are frequently unaware that the "candid" photographs are carefully constructed before being published to the public.

9. Illegal Substances Are Allowed On Set

An illicit drug can sometimes be all that is required for an actor or actress to provide their best performance. Many A-list celebrities are said to have a never-ending supply of their favorite vice in Hollywood.

Dennis Quaid, the legendary actor, admitted to having a "casual" cocaine addiction before becoming a major star. He experimented with the drug when he first got to Los Angeles in 1974, but things didn't spiral out of control until he was cast in big films. He also said that cocaine was put in movie budgets as "petty dollars" to conceal the drug-fueled settings. He said that the substance was easily distributed on movie sets because it was the standard and that everyone did it. In retrospect, he considers his cocaine addiction to be one of his biggest blunders. The actor claimed that his entire life fell apart as a result of his drug addiction.

Even actor Jack Nicholson has been open about his drug use. “Drugs ain't no big deal,” he stated in a 1980 interview, adding that he still liked to get high “about four days a week.”

8. Publicity Stunts

Hollywood is no stranger to publicity stunts, and the industry will go to any length to attract the public's attention. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were rumored to be vying for a position on the cover of Vogue in 2014. When Anna Wintour, the magazine's editor-in-chief, ultimately chose to put them on the front page of the fashion magazine, she sparked a furor. Some Vogue subscribers threatened to cancel their subscriptions because Kimye was deemed disrespectful and unfit for the prestigious publication.

No one would have batted an eye if the magazine had stuck with "tasteful" cover stars, Wintour later acknowledged on the record. However, by putting West and Kardashian on the cover, she gave the magazine some much-needed exposure. In the world of entertainment, any form of attention is welcome, even if it is negative.

7. Eating Disorders

Some celebrities have developed eating disorders as a result of the pressure to seem beautiful and skinny. They are constantly under the microscope because they are in the spotlight. They are judged not only by their fans and the general public, but also by their agents and managers, who may pressurize them to lose weight in unhealthy ways.

Demi Lovato recalls looking down at her belly at the age of "2 or 3 years old" and wondering if it would ever be flat. She suffered with an eating disorder as she grew older, relapsing after difficult times in her life. She binged and purged after splitting up with her ex, Wilmer Valderrama, because she missed him.

Plus-size model Ashley Graham said an agent dangled $20 notes in her face and told her she could make "a lot more than this" if she shed more weight for a red carpet appearance, while actress Naomi Watts admitted that she virtually starved herself for a red carpet appearance.

6. The Casting Couch Is Nothing New

There were suspicions about the casting couch—a term used to characterize stars who are handed roles in exchange for sexual favors—long before the Harvey Weinstein story broke. Megan Fox spoke with GQ and laid out the cold, hard facts, putting the rumors to rest.

The actress stated that she would be honored to meet "Hollywood legends," and that she would be overjoyed by the prospect. Then, when she arrived, she would discover that the meeting was a ruse. She claimed that many of the males in the profession were able to get away with sleeping with a lot of girls, but she wasn't one of them. She would quickly turn them off.

The casting couch has a long history, and many people have used it. Louis B. Mayer, who co-founded Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in 1924, was an early "practitioner." Mayer, who was at the epicenter of this type of abuse, had the means, the purpose, the opportunity, and the most important piece of the puzzle: the whip. He threatened to ruin women's professions or the careers of their loved ones if they didn't comply. Does this ring a bell? “The risks for women in Hollywood are imbedded, like land mines, from an actress's debut to her swan song,” says Carrie Rickey, a film critic and historian. “Moguls like Harry Cohn are rumored to have refused to cast starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Kim Novak unless they auditioned in bed.”

5. The Mafia

Hollywood may be known for its glitz and opulence, but it has a less-than-glamorous past. In truth, many people are ignorant of a far darker aspect to the industry. The Hollywood underworld was supposed to be run by a mobster named Mickey Cohen. Cohen and his widespread organized crime gangs that governed the industry were the subject of a 1950 Life magazine exposé headlined "Trouble in Los Angeles." This is one secret that Hollywood would like to forget about forever.

4. Fixers Can Fix Anything

In an ideal world, a star would avoid getting into trouble and enjoy a prosperous career free of setbacks. Accidents and sticky circumstances are, however, unavoidable in life. When things grow too much for a celebrity to handle, they need the help of a fixer like Michael Sitrick.

For years, Sitrick has been known as a "spinmeister" in the industry, having a knack for turning bad press articles into favorable ones. He's worked with a number of well-known people, including David Lee Roth and former NFL quarterback Michael Vick. He excels at dealing with controversy, and when a celebrity is being hammered by the press, there's no one better to have on their side than Sitrick. It's likely that Sitrick, or someone similar to him, is hard at work if a prominent person has been caught in a defamatory scenario and you suddenly notice an inflow of good articles about them.

3. Ageism

In Hollywood, ageism is alive and well, and some actors feel compelled to remove a few years from their birthdate. When speculations about Margot Robbie's genuine age began to circulate online, she faced a barrage of criticism. Did she, on the other hand, have a valid motive to lie? Perhaps.

Junie Hoang, an actress, sued the website Internet Movie Database for disclosing her genuine age. “In the entertainment industry, young is king,” Hoang said in her lawsuit, a straightforward way of accusing the website of harming her prospects of securing gigs by revealing her true age. Despite the fact that she lost the lawsuit, it brought to light how widespread ageism is in Hollywood.

2. cheating

On set, some performers spend the majority of their time. This means they spend more time with their costars and crew and are away from their partners for longer periods of time. It's no surprise that some celebrities suffer lapses in judgment and cheat on their partners. Some of the flings cease when the movies end, but others blossom into juicy cheating scandals, full-fledged partnerships, and even marriages.

When Angelina Jolie began a relationship with Brad Pitt on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, she was called a homewrecker. Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time, and their relationship crashed and burned when reports of the affair surfaced. Pitt eventually married Jolie after Aniston filed for divorce. Kristen Stewart is another celebrity who has been linked to an infidelity controversy. She was spotted making out with director Rupert Sanders on the set of their picture, Snow White and the Huntsman, while dating her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson. These are just two examples of the industry's widespread dishonesty.

1. Love Child

Everyone was taken aback when Eva Mendes managed to keep her developing baby belly hidden from the public eye, but she has nothing on the celebrities who have kept their secret love children hidden from the public eye. And, on occasion, the youngsters are as perplexed as the rest of us!

It wasn’t until she was eight years old that Liv Tyler found out she was the biological daughter of Aerosmith’s frontman Steven Tyler. Her mother was young when she gave birth to Liv, and the actress said there was a “bit of confusion” about where she came from for most of her life. She was forced to put the pieces of the puzzle together herself when she could no longer ignore the resemblance she had to the singer.

Liv said it was "exactly like staring at my twin" when she saw Steve's daughter Mia, her half-sister who was born 17 months after her, at his show.When Liv looked at her mother, she saw tears in her mother's eyes. She eventually knew she was the love child of a rock star at that point.

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