Elevatorgate, Sex Tapes And “Break” Babies: The Biggest Scandals Of This Decade, Including A Few You Probably Forgot About

Source: Scott Olson/Getty Images; W.Wade/WENN / Getty and WENN

The Downfall of R. Kelly & Bill Cosby

As the Time’s Up and #MeToo movement revved up, a number of famous men would fall from glory, including Harvey Weinstein and of course, Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. Allegations that Cosby had raped and sexually assaulted women had been around for years but came back with full force after comedian Hannibal Buress did a stand-up routine about the accusations that went viral in 2014. Dozens of alleged victims would come forward soon after, alleging incidents dating as far back as the 1960s to as recent as 2008. He was eventually found guilty in 2018 of aggravated indecent assault against a Toronto woman and the 82-year-old was sentenced to three to ten years in prison. He has maintained his innocence, though he did admit that he used drugs on women he intended to sleep with.

As for Kelly, he too had been accused of improper behavior in the past, specifically engaging in sex acts with underage girls. He was illegally married to singer Aaliyah when she was 15. He also was able to evade prison in 2008 for allegedly being the man seen in a 2002 video having sex with and urinating on a minor. But after the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly came out in 2019, and a boycott of his music led his record label to drop him, there was no more running from the allegations for Kelly. He would be hit with a bevvy of new charges, including criminal sexual abuse spanning more than 10 years, child sexual exploitation, kidnapping, soliciting a minor, child pornography and more. He was denied bail, has been in custody since the summer and will remain in jail until his trial begins in the spring of 2020.