How would these celebrity meltdowns, breakdowns, etc. have played out in today's world?

[Rilchiam]

Suppose Twitter, YouTube, TMZ and so forth had been around in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties. How would certain celebrities have fared if their crises had played out on the internet? I’ll start:

Elvis. Might not have died when he did. His crew wanted to intervene, but didn’t really know how, and it didn’t help that Elvis was so very isolated. Perhaps if video of him looking bloated and dopey was on gossip sites, and someone insisted that he watch, he might have had a moment of clarity. And Red and Sonny West might have started a blog immediately after being dismissed, and that might have been more help than a tell-all book that only came out two weeks before his death.

Shannen Doherty. There was a lot going on in 1993 that we never really got the full story on. I know she married Ashley Hamilton, who was literally brain-damaged (through no fault of his own), very abruptly, and divorced him equally abruptly. I also know that this was after Dean Factor, heir to the Max Factor fortune, broke their engagement. I think what did it was that she hit him, then apologized and promised never to do it again. Until one night when they were in a club, where she thought some other woman was flirting with him. So she punched the other woman, then left with Factor, then hit him again at home, for whatever reason (flirting back, didn’t stand up for her), at which point Factor left and filed a restraining order. That would have been interesting to watch with today’s level of coverage.

Rob Lowe. It was video that brought him down, but I think more exposure might have helped redeem him sooner. He did not rape anyone, you know. He porked a couple of fans, like all his contemporaries did, except he was the one who got on video. And it was the two girls who circulated the video. I think perhaps if the video, even a censored version, had been available for viewing, the OMG SHOCK OUTRAGE might not have been so rabid. Plus, there are more chat shows for someone in his position to appear on in their own defense.

Keith Moon. Would have imploded. He was such an attention junkie, he wouldn’t have scratched his ass without posting about it or making a video. (Then again, more of those hotel-destruction charges might have stuck.)

That’s what I’ve got so far. And heck, you can go further back than the seventies if you like!

[Casey1505]

Going back even further, I’d love to see how Hamilton-Burr would have played out now.

Although, we’d have lost the awesome “Aawon Buhhh” commercial.

[Rilchiam]

And we could have gotten the signing of the Declaration live on C-Span!

[Annie-Xmas]

@Rilchiam

Elvis. Might not have died when he did. His crew wanted to intervene, but didn’t really know how, and it didn’t help that Elvis was so very isolated. Perhaps if video of him looking bloated and dopey was on gossip sites, and someone insisted that he watch, he might have had a moment of clarity. And Red and Sonny West might have started a blog immediately after being dismissed, and that might have been more help than a tell-all book that only came out two weeks before his death.

Didn’t help his one-time son-in-law Michael Jackson.

[Yllaria]

@Casey1505

Going back even further, I’d love to see how Hamilton-Burr would have played out now.

Although, we’d have lost the awesome “Aawon Buhhh” commercial.

I suspect that I would pay money for the Facebook/Twitter/YouTube entries of the Founding Fathers (in book form or not) as they scrapped out their differences. I know they went at it with letters and newspapers, so there’s enough information out there for someone to do it.

I’d definitely pay money if we could get Sampiro to do it.

[Prelude_to_Fascination]

How about George Reeve? It might be interesting to see in a twitter fashion how he handled the Superman attention.

Fatty Arbuckle maybe?

[Casey1505]

@Yllaria

I suspect that I would pay money for the Facebook/Twitter/YouTube entries of the Founding Fathers (in book form or not) as they scrapped out their differences. I know they went at it with letters and newspapers, so there’s enough information out there for someone to do it.

I’d definitely pay money if we could get Sampiro to do it.

Sorry to continue the hijack, last one I promise.

If you have Twitter, you might be interested in following @Kennedy1961

Follow President John F. Kennedy’s thousand days in office – 50 years later. A project of the JFK Library. http://www.jfklibrary.org

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

If I recall correctly, Rilchiam, didn’t Rob Lowe bone an underage girl in that incident? If true, that’s something that wouldn’t be forgiven that easily.

[It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery]

I was sure the OP would cite the Fatty Arbuckle scandal.

[Tom_Scud]

Mary Todd Lincoln would have had an interesting time in the modern media landscape.

[Rilchiam]

@The_Peyote_Coyote

If I recall correctly, Rilchiam, didn’t Rob Lowe bone an underage girl in that incident? If true, that’s something that wouldn’t be forgiven that easily.

She was 17. It’s not like she was 12 and terrified and crying. The other girl was of age.

[Rilchiam]

Missed the edit window: I mean, it was in no way comparable to what Roman Polanski did, if that’s what you mean.

[Justin_Bailey]

@The_Peyote_Coyote

If I recall correctly, Rilchiam, didn’t Rob Lowe bone an underage girl in that incident? If true, that’s something that wouldn’t be forgiven that easily.

@Rilchiam

She was 17. It’s not like she was 12 and terrified and crying. The other girl was of age.

He also met her in a bar that she snuck into with her 22-year old girlfriend. Surprise surprise, Rob Lowe was the only one to get threatened with a lawsuit.

Rob Lowe's Tale of the Tape

[Backwater_Under_Duck]

Aimee Semple McPherson, media celebrity pioneer and big-buck radio evangelist in the 1920s. At one point faked a kidnapping and disappeared causing great speculation over what really happened.

[jackdavinci]

Although there’s more coverage now, I think the backlash is actually less now than it used to be. Sex related shenanigans tends to be good press if anything. It takes being a real dick on tape several times to really make an impact.

Looking back, I wonder what all the hullabaloo was, about Rob Lowe, Hugh Grant, and Robert Downey Jr. Their antics would barely register nowadays.

[astro]

@Rilchiam

Suppose Twitter, YouTube, TMZ and so forth had been around in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties. How would certain celebrities have fared if their crises had played out on the internet? I’ll start:

Elvis. Might not have died when he did. His crew wanted to intervene, but didn’t really know how, and it didn’t help that Elvis was so very isolated. Perhaps if video of him looking bloated and dopey was on gossip sites, and someone insisted that he watch, he might have had a moment of clarity. And Red and Sonny West might have started a blog immediately after being dismissed, and that might have been more help than a tell-all book that only came out two weeks before his death.

Shannen Doherty. There was a lot going on in 1993 that we never really got the full story on. I know she married Ashley Hamilton, who was literally brain-damaged (through no fault of his own), very abruptly, and divorced him equally abruptly. I also know that this was after Dean Factor, heir to the Max Factor fortune, broke their engagement. I think what did it was that she hit him, then apologized and promised never to do it again. Until one night when they were in a club, where she thought some other woman was flirting with him. So she punched the other woman, then left with Factor, then hit him again at home, for whatever reason (flirting back, didn’t stand up for her), at which point Factor left and filed a restraining order. That would have been interesting to watch with today’s level of coverage.

Rob Lowe. It was video that brought him down, but I think more exposure might have helped redeem him sooner. He did not rape anyone, you know. He porked a couple of fans, like all his contemporaries did, except he was the one who got on video. And it was the two girls who circulated the video. I think perhaps if the video, even a censored version, had been available for viewing, the OMG SHOCK OUTRAGE might not have been so rabid. Plus, there are more chat shows for someone in his position to appear on in their own defense.

Keith Moon. Would have imploded. He was such an attention junkie, he wouldn’t have scratched his ass without posting about it or making a video. (Then again, more of those hotel-destruction charges might have stuck.)

That’s what I’ve got so far. And heck, you can go further back than the seventies if you like!

Somehow I’d bet everything except Lowe was heavily fueled in whole or part by drug abuse.