Actor Rumors That Turned Out To Be True
Though we don't always like to admit it, everyone loves some juicy gossip. This seems especially true with celebrities, as there are entire magazines and websites devoted to the rumor mill surrounding famous people. Actors are often some of the biggest targets of gossip columns and tabloids, with the world obsessed with what happens behind the scenes of film and TV sets and in both the professional and personal lives of the people who star in our favorite movies and series.
More often than not, rumors remain rumors indefinitely — we rarely get definitive confirmation or denial on the validity of the things we hear about actors. On top of that, it seems to be far more common for rumors to be debunked than verified. Which makes the examples of rumors that do come true all the more interesting. In each and every example, something that was rumored about one or more actors was eventually confirmed in some capacity by the actors themselves, by a verifiable source close to the project in question, or in some cases, by good old-fashioned court documents. Here are some of the biggest actor rumors that turned out to be true.
Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes' relationship
It's not unusual for actors to at least attempt to keep their dating lives private. Typically, they try it for a little while and eventually relent and make it official to the public that they are in a relationship. What makes Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes one of the rare exceptions in this regard is that they managed to spend a stunning six years together before they made any official public appearances as a couple.
The actors first got together in 2013, a year after Holmes had finalized her divorce from Tom Cruise. It wouldn't be until 2015 that Holmes and Foxx first started to be photographed together more often, from dinner dates to weekend getaways. Even with all the evidence in the world that they were a couple, neither confirmed it for several more years after that. It wasn't until the May 2019 Met Gala red carpet that the two actors made their official debut as a couple, finally confirming one of the worst-kept secrets in celebrity gossip for the previous half-decade. They'd only spend three months as an officially confirmed couple before they broke up in August 2019.
The feud between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall
Unfortunately, any show featuring a primarily female cast tends to be dogged by rumors of drama on the set. "Sex and the City" — the groundbreaking HBO series about a group of New York City gal pals — seemed to be the exception to this trend, with no credible rumblings of any friction among the show's cast. At least, not while the show was still airing.
Once "Sex and the City" ended, rumors began to swirl that infighting between the show's stars was the reason. In particular, it was said that Kim Cattrall took issue with how much more money Sarah Jessica Parker was making and tried to negotiate a higher paycheck for herself. This allegedly caused tension between Cattrall and her co-stars and was cited as one of the reasons she wouldn't return for the reboot. For her part, Parker denied any such friction at the time and insisted the foursome were all friends. For a few years, Cattrall echoed this sentiment in interviews.
But in 2017, Cattrall finally seemed ready to stop playing nice for the press, telling Piers Morgan (via The Independent) that she and her castmates had "never been friends." Even worse, when Parker posted condolences to Cattrall on social media following the death of Cattrall's brother, Cattrall was done pretending. She said that Parker was and had always been cruel, and responded to Parker's Instagram message by saying, "You are not my family. You are not my friend."
B.J. Novak's face was being used on random products
It's hard to believe what you see on social media, especially as convincing Photoshop jobs have become so easy to pull off. And so, many people were justifiably skeptical when photos of products adorned with what seemed to be the face of "The Office" star, writer, and producer B.J. Novak began to appear on sites like Instagram and TikTok. These products included a rain poncho, costume makeup, men's grooming products, and cologne, some of which have international packaging.
It felt like the kind of prank social media users would perpetuate, and Novak is just the kind of unassuming and seemingly random actor to be used as the literal face of such a ruse. As it turns out, those products are very real, and it's very much Novak's face being used to promote them. The actor revealed that a photo of him had somehow accidentally ended up on a website of public domain images, and so various companies jumped at the opportunity for some free celebrity endorsement of their products.
While Novak said he could probably go through the necessary steps to get the image removed from the public domain, he has instead opted to have a sense of humor about the whole thing and let people (and companies) have their fun with it. In fact, he even shared some of the products on his own Instagram page.
Sylvester Stallone appeared in an adult film before he was famous
One of the more common types of Hollywood legends involves speculating about what actors did before becoming famous. For Sylvester Stallone, that meant an oft-repeated rumor that he had done adult movies before his star-making turns in "Death Race 2000" and "Rocky." Stallone had already confirmed he had an embarrassing early role in a softcore pornographic movie as far back as a 1978 interview in Playboy, so it's not as though he ever tried to deny it. But it's not something he liked talking about all that much once he became a bona fide A-lister — and it soon became relegated to one of those things you hear and don't know if it's a little-known fact or just an urban legend.
When "The Party at Kitty and Stud's" — later renamed "Italian Stallion" — never showed up on VHS, it faded further into obscurity. But in 2004, the movie finally got a home release on DVD, thus ending whatever lingering doubts were left as to whether or not Stallone ever actually starred in such a movie. Both the 2004 and subsequent 2007 DVD releases of "Italian Stallion" had very short runs and quickly went out of print, making it both difficult and expensive to come by a legitimate copy of the movie. In 2010, the distribution rights to the film as well as its original 35mm print were auctioned off on eBay to an unnamed buyer for $412,000.
The rise and fall of Brangelina
Rumors of on-set romances between actors are a dime a dozen, as is speculation of infidelity by actors with their co-stars. But the rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sparking a love affair on the set of 2003's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" — in part because their romantic tension on camera was so palpable — took what was typically an unremarkable set of circumstances for Hollywood and made it headline-grabbing news for months. And a big reason was that it meant Pitt was being unfaithful to "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston, who was still one of America's sweethearts at the time. It made for an arguably unfair characterization of Jolie as a seductress who was stealing Pitt away from Aniston — though most people understand that nobody can "make" anyone cheat on their spouse.
Of course, everyone now knows that the rumors of their relationship were true. Aniston and Pitt divorced in March 2005, and "Brangelina" made their official red carpet debut as a couple in December 2006. Pitt and Jolie became one of Hollywood's biggest power couples and eventually expanded their family to include six children. They wouldn't actually marry until 2014, though Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 and the two were officially separated by 2019. And with that, another Hollywood power couple bit the dust. Unfortunately, the split was a rocky one, fraught with legal battles — involving both child custody and the pair's shared business ventures — that continued through 2023.
Clark Gable was the biological father of Loretta Young's daughter
Hollywood's treatment of women during its so-called "Golden Era" was notoriously horrendous. When actress Loretta Young found herself pregnant and unmarried in 1935, she felt forced to literally adopt her own child rather than admit to having an "illegitimate" daughter so the industry wouldn't shun her. It didn't help that the father of the child was her married co-star, Clark Gable — who also had plenty to lose if the truth got out. She later alleged that Gable had raped her.
The public didn't seem particularly concerned with digging any deeper into Young's version of events, and the actress was able to keep her career — winning an Oscar in 1947 and later becoming an even bigger star on television. But the truth about Young, her affair with Gable, and the child that resulted from it was a fairly open secret within Hollywood's inner circles. Their daughter, Judy Lewis, spent her entire childhood and early adulthood believing she was Young's adopted daughter, and it wasn't until Lewis was 31 that Young told her everything. Though Young revealed the truth to Lewis way back then, both women kept the identities of Lewis' biological parents a secret from the public for decades.
Lewis first confirmed that her parents were Loretta Young and Clark Gable in her 1994 memoir. Young didn't corroborate the story until her biography, "Forever Young," was published — but not until after her death, per her wishes.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Rock Hudson's sexuality
Another "open secret" that most people knew within Hollywood but still managed to stay mostly a secret from the public was the sexual orientation of Rock Hudson. One of the most popular actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood — if not of all time — Hudson spent much of his career being the leading man in romance films. Ironically, one of those films, "Pillow Talk," saw Hudson play a straight man who, at one point in the film, pretends to be homosexual. He had been playing the exact opposite role for most of his life in terms of who he really was and who he presented himself as to the moviegoing public.
In the 1970s, a joke about Rock Hudson marrying actor Jim Nabors gained so much traction that it eventually became a full-blown urban legend. There was no truth to it, though it did begin speculation that Hudson and Nabors were gay. By the end of the decade, Nabors had begun making public appearances with partner Stan Cadwallader, whom he eventually married in 2013. As for Hudson, he never confirmed the ever-mounting rumors of his own homosexuality.
However, once he passed away in 1985 from complications related to AIDS, friends and colleagues confirmed that Hudson was gay, in large part as a way to try and destigmatize the disease. It became a major turning point in the public's perception of HIV and AIDS and led to an increase in funding research for treatment, research, public awareness, and prevention.
Meghan Markle had been dating Prince Harry
So much has very publicly happened with the relationship between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry that it's easy to forget its humble beginnings as mere speculation. It's hard enough for two high-profile actors to date in secret — and Markle was starring in the popular USA series "Suits" at the time — but a well-known actor dating a literal prince wasn't going to stay private for long.
Still, the two did their best to keep their budding romance under wraps for as long as they could. In October 2016, the first "reports" that they were dating began to make the rounds following the pair being seen together at a Halloween party. The following month, Prince Harry decided to get out in front of it and confirm that he was in a relationship with Markle. The following May, they attended their first public event as an official couple. Finally, in November 2017, the couple announced that they were engaged. And with that, Markle's days as an actor had seemingly come to an end — though people now wonder whether she'll ever return to acting now that she and Harry have left the royal family.
Tom Holland and Zendaya were a couple off-screen as well
The world loves to try and ship actors who play love interests in movies or TV shows. It's even easier to do that when the actors in question — in this case, Tom Holland and Zendaya, who play Peter Parker and MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — are already good friends who spend a lot of time together. It didn't take long before it was assumed that the friends were more than that as they were increasingly spotted together out and about, but there was never anything in the way of an official announcement or proclamation that they were an item.
Instead, during press events for the various "Spider-Man" movies they appeared in together as well as Zendaya's own "Euphoria" and "Dune," the two gradually started discussing each other more and more in increasingly sweet ways. Zendaya in particular has relished confirming what we have long suspected about how committed Holland is to playing the MCU's resident web-slinger, something she seems to really dig about him. The dots got pretty easy to connect after a while, and their relationship was soon a mystery no more — though they've both generally remained fairly private about their actual romantic life. Well, as private as two of the biggest young stars in the world could manage to be, anyway.
Arnold Schwarzenegger had multiple affairs
Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a married man when his acting career took off in the 1980s, having wed journalist and Kennedy niece Maria Shriver between the releases of "Commando" and "Predator." For decades, the two seemed like one of Hollywood's most stable marriages, even when Schwarzenegger transitioned from actor to politician upon becoming governor of California in 2003.
So the world was understandably shocked when, seemingly out of nowhere, the couple released a joint statement in May 2011 that announced they were separating. Rumors about Schwarzenegger being unfaithful had popped up every so often over the years, but Shriver was always quick to stick up for him and deny the rumors on his behalf. Ultimately, it turns out that the "Total Recall" star had at least two affairs during his marriage that he was willing to admit to — including the one that ultimately pushed Shriver into filing for divorce. The day he completed his second and final term as governor, Schwarzenegger confessed to Shriver that things had gone too far between him and their longtime housekeeper. And worse, he admitted that the housekeeper's son — Joseph Baena — is actually his biological child.
Given the physical resemblance between Schwarzenegger and Baena, it wasn't a secret he could've kept for very much longer. As for the father and son, they now seem to have a good relationship, with Baena following in dad's footsteps by becoming both an actor and a bodybuilder.
Bill Cosby's history of sexual assault
This one obviously needed to be saved for last — and it comes with a serious trigger warning, given the nature of the subject matter. After spending decades being "America's dad" to multiple generations of kids, Bill Cosby eventually found himself faced with over 60 women accusing him of various forms of sexual harassment and assault. To most of the general public, the news seemed to come out of nowhere, with people left wondering how his alleged behavior could've gone on for so long without anyone knowing. But not everyone was completely blindsided.
2005 saw the first official legal action brought against Cosby for alleged sexual assault when the mother of Andrea Constand filed a police report on her daughter's behalf. In the years that followed, several other women filed lawsuits accusing Cosby of similar behavior. Model Janice Dickinson told Howard Stern in 2006 that Cosby was a predator. Yet despite all this, Cosby's public reputation remained largely untarnished, and the things he had been accused of were relegated to rumor and hearsay. People finally began paying attention when comedian Hannibal Buress, during a 2014 stand-up appearance, called Cosby a rapist and a hypocrite for preaching wholesome family values while being accused of terrible things.
More accusations began to flood in, and eventually, one of those accusations led to an official charge of aggravated indecent assault in 2015. He went to prison in 2018, though the conviction was overturned and Cosby was released in 2021 – but nobody is dismissing the "rumors" anymore.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).