Harvey Weinstein, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, David Bowie, Garrison Keillor, and Kobe Bryant are just a few of the most prominent names on our list of famous men behaving badly.
Kathy Hutchins, Jim Louvau, Robert Sharp / English PEN,TriStar Pictures, NPR, Robert Sharp / English PEN.
1. Former Senator Brock Adams, 2, news executive Roger Ailes, 3. actor Ben Affleck, 4. broadcaster Marv Albert, 5. actor/director Woody Allen, 6. former boxer Trevor Berbick, 7. DC comics executive Eddie Berganza, 8. celebrity chef John Besh, 9. magician David Blaine, 10. singer David Bowie, 11, billionaire Richard Branson, 12. former NBA player Kobe Bryant, 13. former President George H.W. Bush, 14. comedian Louis C.K. …
Two weeks ago, I started to compile a list of prominent men accused or convicted of sexual misconduct.
Like Pinocchio's nose, it just keeps growing.
Congressmen John Conyers and Ruben Kihuen, NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer, billionaire Richard Branson, and Lake Woebegone humorist Garrison Keillor have all joined the club since Thanksgiving. As the list hit 100, I thought it was time to publish ... and I'm sure there are many I've missed. (I didn't include domestic violence or adultery ... or the list would be much, much longer. More than 40 current and former NFL players alone have been accused of physical or sexual assaults on women. It seems like half the congressmen who voted to impeach Bill Clinton had affairs of their own.)
The list includes actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, journalists, business executives, and even a general.
There are also two Weiners (Anthony and Matthew), a Woody (Allen) and one Dick (Andy). Maybe a lot more.
You can read their names as you scroll through this column. (They are listed alphabetically in case you want to check quickly to see if you are on it.) They’re all facing public scrutiny or worse following charges of sexual harassment or assault.
Most of the names on my wall are only accused. Some are in jail. Some are dead. Many are in denial.
15. former President Bill Clinton, 16. Congressman John Conyers, 17. editor David Corn, 18. actor Bill Cosby, 19. comedian Andy Dick, 20. actor Richard Dreyfuss, 21. Congressman Blake Farenthold, 22, NFL player Julian Edelman, 23. publisher Hamilton Fish, 24. former Congressman Mark Foley, 25. Senator Al Franken, 26. singer Marvin Gaye, 27. musician Gary Glitter, 28. producer Gary Goddard, 29. agent Tyler Graham, 30. producer David Guillod, 31. journalist Mark Halpern, 32. former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, 33. actor Dustin Hoffman, 34. musician Mick Jagger, 35. movie producer Peter Aalback Jensen, 36. musician Ethan Kath, 37. humorist Garrison Keillor, 38. singer R. Kelly, 39. former NBA player Bernard King ...
I'm amazed at the excuses I've heard for their bad behavior.
A Judge Roy Moore supporter, the Rev. Franklin Raddish of Baptist Ministries, told AL.com that this surge of accusations was a "war on men." Really? Then why hasn't Donald Trump developed another set of bone spurs?
One man wrote on Facebook: "My concern is why these newsroom Bimbos and sluts are not being exposed for not only instigating but lying about these incidents against the Matt Lauers and Bill O'Reillys."
Just. No.
But it's not only men. A woman who I know is a liberal posted on Facebook: "Some of the accusations seem unpleasant but not worth destroying an entire career if the cases (as I understand the data) are based on groping, a kiss without permission, squeezing a woman’s butt. I have chatted with many friends from the old days. Kissing without permission? None of us could remember being asked! Groping? Degree of said grope...? Stop that! was sufficient for us to put out the fire."
Those days are gone. We should all know better by now.
40. Today Show host Matt Lauer, 41. movie executive Andrew Kramer, 42. showrunner Andrew Kreisberg, 43. publisher Knight Landesman, 44. musician Jerry Lee Lewis, 45. former Congressman Don “Buz” Lukens, 46. former Congressman Eric Massa, 47. former NBA player Anthony Mason, 48. former NFL player Josh McNary, 49. Judge Roy Moore, 50. rapper Jahseh Onfoy, 51. former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, 52. journalist Bill O’Reilly, 53. editor Michael Oreskes, 54. former Senator Bob Packwood, 55. former NBA player Ruben Patterson, 56. musician Jimmy Page, 57. former NBA player Thomas Payne, 58. actor Jeremy Piven, 59. director Roman Polanski, 60. musician Iggy Pop. 61. singer Elvis Presley, 62. movie executive Roy Price, 63. director Brett Ratner …
A conservative talk show host at a radio station in Ohio where I used to work asked on Facebook: "Is it OK to even compliment a woman at work on her appearance?"
My response: I've been a manager for more than 30 years and I only compliment women AND men on their work.
Maybe some of you feel different, but I've supervised hundreds of women, many of whom have become successful authors, award-winning reporters and editors, educators, humanitarians, and just great people. I can't take any credit for that. But I do hope I helped create an environment where they could flourish.
Oh, and I also worked for some outstanding women editors and they created the same kind of work space for me.
64. Musician Twiggy Ramirez. 65. Congressman Mel Reynolds, 66. quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, 67. NFL player Frostee Rucker, 68. reporter Glenn Thrush, 69. actor (?) Steven Seagal, 70. showrunner, Mark Schwann, 71. tech blogger Robert Scoble, 72. former NFL player Darren Sharper, 73. music mogul Russell Simmons, 74. Army General Jeffrey Sinclair, 75. Arizona legislator Don Shooter, 76. actor Tom Sizemore, 77. actor Kevin Spacey, 78. actor Sylvester Stallone, 79. Vox executive Lockhart Steele, 80. NBA player Deshawn Stevenson, 81. director Oliver Stone, 82. actor/internet star George Takei, 83. actor Jeffrey Tambor, 84. director James Toback …
Why now?
The allegations against President Donald Trump during the 2016 election turned sexual harassment and assault into a national conversation. But the shouting really began after the charges against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey sent them scurrying to the desert for rehab.
The language of the debate has also been altered. Terms like “act like a man … be a man … man up …” don’t seem to mean what they used to. Maybe they never did.
In fact, it all makes some of us want to turn in our man card altogether.
Because if there really is a "war on men" being fought now, I’d like to be on the winning side.
85. President Donald Trump, 86. singer Steven Tyler, 87. former boxer Mike Tyson, 88. agent Adam Venit, 89 and 90. movie moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein, 91. former Congressman Anthony Weiner, 92. TV director Matthew Weiner, 93. publisher Jann Wenner, 94. actor Ed Westwick, 95. author Elie Wiesel, 96. editor Leon Wieseltier, 97. quarterback Jameis Winston, 98. former congressman David Wu, 99. musician Bill Wyman, 100. NBC exec Matt Zimmerman.
(This list was compiled from reports by Fox News, CNN, USA Today, Business Insider, Phoenix New Times, Newsweek, Fastcompany.com, Broadly, and Wikipedia.)
