Image via Complex Original
People love a good scandal, and there's nothing juicier than when celebrities step out on their significant others. Whether it's a politician, athlete, or actor, if there's infidelity involved, the story will sell a whole lot. Our culture is a celebrity-obsessed one, and it seems like every other day a new story of adultery breaks.
And lately, it's especially in vogue.This Friday, the last Twilight film, Breaking Dawn Pt. 2, hits theaters, starring one of the most famous cheaters in Hollywood, Kristen Stewart. There's also the recent news that David Patreaus, the now-former Director of the CIA, was engaging in an affair with his much younger biographer, Paula Broadwell.
Clearly, no one on the following list of 15 Celebrities Caught Cheating has read George Orwell's 1984, because if they had, they'd know one harsh truth: The paparazzi—the real world's version of Big Brother—is always watching.
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Written by Tanya Ghahremani (@tanyaghahremani)
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
Date photo first appeared: June 1962
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a tumultuous relationship from the start, but it only became public knowledge when paparazzi took photos of them together on a yacht off the coast of Italy in 1962. Both were married at the time, Taylor to her fourth husband (of seven) Eddie Fisher, and Burton to his first wife (of four) Sybil Williams. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a whole Lindsay Lohan-starring Lifetime movie (Liz & Dick) about it now.
Hugh Grant
Date photo first appeared: June 1995
OK, so that's not exactly a photo of Hugh Grant stepping out on then-wife Elizabeth Hurley. The fact that the above mugshots of Grant and a prostitute who called herself Divine Brown were taken shortly after the two were arrested for lewd conduct in a public place means there's enough evidence to prove that he did.
John Edwards
Date photo first appeared: July 2008
No pictorial evidence of John Edwards engaging in romantic behavior with his mistress Rielle Hunter has ever surfaced. Although, it has been more or less confirmed that a sex tape between the two existed but has since been destroyed.
This photo was enough to unravel a whole web of lies that the politician was weaving behind the back of his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth Edwards. The National Enquirer obtained the above picture of Edwards holding a small child that turned out to be his illegitimate son with Hunter, given the surname of, that's right, "Hunter." The following month, Edwards admitted to engaging in an extramarital affair.
Balthazar Getty
Date photo first appeared: July 2008
Though Balthazar Getty and his wife of 12 years, Rosetta Millington, are still together, Getty engaged in a highly publicized affair with actress Sienna Miller in 2008. The hook-up was revealed after paparazzi snapped pictures of the two on a yacht in Italy. Getty was subsequently estranged from his wife after the photos were revealed, but the two eventually reconciled when his romance with Miller ended.
Leann Rimes and Eddie Cibrean
Date photo first appeared: April 2009
It's a feat when participating in a Lifetime original movie isn't the shittiest thing a couple does together. Thus, it's impressive that Leann Rimes and Eddie Cibrean managed to do just that.
After meeting on the set of Lifetime's Northern Lights in 2009, the two engaged in an affair despite being married to others at the time (Rimes to Dean Sheremet, and Cibrean to Brandi Glanville). The discovery came after security footage from a restaurant caught them getting pretty hot and heavy over dinner.
The two left their spouses and married each other last year, but recent rumors have Cibrean cheating on Rimes with ex-wife Glanville. This hasn't been confirmed, but we should point out: Once a cheater, always a cheater.
Mark Sanford
Date photo first appeared: June 2009
Another politician, another infidelity scandal. In 2009, Mark Sanford, a Republican senator from South Carolina, retreated for nearly a week to Argentina, where he was visiting his mistress, Maria Chapur. He was intercepted in Atlanta upon his return to the United States, and shortly thereafter, he admitted during a press conference to having an affair.
State officials called for his resignation as governor, but a trial to have him impeached only ended with the House Judiciary Committee voting for his censure. Sanford served the remainder of his governorship, and, upon its end in January 2011, reunited with Chapur. They're now engaged, and he calls her his "soulmate."
David Boreanaz
Date photo first appeared: October 2009
David Boreanaz can blame fellow adulterous celebrity Tiger Woods for this. No one, not even the Bones actor's wife, former Playboy Playmate of the Month Jamie Bergman, was wise to Boreanaz's affair with New York nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel until Woods' own affair with her was discovered.
The-Dream
Date photo first appeared: July 2010
R&B singer/songwriter Terius "The-Dream" Nash's infidelity with his assistant was discovered after the two were photographed hugging all up on each other at a beach in the Caribbean. Shortly after the photos were released, the rapper's then-wife, singer Christina Milian, tweeted a rather ominous statement: "WHATEVER YOU THINK.. BELIEVE IT." News that the two were splitting came shortly after.
Bam Margera
Date photo first appeared: February 2011
As this news came from the same site that broke Ashton Kutcher's infidelity, The Dirty, we're inclined to believe it. The pictorial evidence submitted to the site show the former Jackass star cheating on his wife of five years, Missy Rothstein, with a 17-year-old Canadian girl named Ashley Burns. Additionally, The Dirty received other claims that Bam has two girlfriends on the side, one on the west coast and two on the east. Stay classy!
Ashton Kutcher
Date photo first appeared: September 2011
Ashton Kutcher's six-year marriage to Demi Moore ended late last year when rumors about him hooking up with a 22-year-old administrative assistant from San Diego—on the night of his wedding anniversay, no less—turned out to be true. Shortly after the news broke, pictures of the two leaving a San Diego nightclub surfaced, verifying the story.
Despite all of this, Kutcher still has a better life than all of us. Since filing for divorce from Moore, he's been dating his former That 70's Show co-star Mila Kunis. Sometimes, life really is unfair.
Mike Tindall
Date photo first appeared: September 2011
It takes a lot of balls to cheat on Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter, but that's just what English rugby player Mike Tindall attempted to do only a few weeks after marrying Zara Phillips in 2011. Rugby is a violent sport, though, so it's possible he's hit his head one too many times. His infidelity was uncovered when CCTV video caught Tindall kissing a blonde at a bar in new Zealand just before Phillips was set to meet him for for the Rugby World Cup games. Despite this, the two are still married.
Ben Flajnik
Date photo first appeared: March 2012
If you believed that The Bachelor is really reality, two things: One, ha ha. Two, hopefully this picture of former star Ben Flajnik cheating on fiancée Courtney Robertson helps you see the light.
Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders
Date photo first appeared: July 2012
Seemingly overnight, Kristen Stewart's public image took a major hit when a boatload of pictures surfaced showing the actress with her Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders. The affair wasn't revealed until July 2012, when paparazzi snapped pictures of the two meeting up in a secluded area for some heavy petting followed by a make-out session in Stewart's car.
Twilight fans were heartbroken over the fact that Stewart cheated on Edward Cullen, a.k.a. boyfriend Robert Pattinson,. And with a married man, no less: Sanders' wife is model and actress Liberty Ross.
Ben Maisani
Date photo first appeared: August 2012
A little over a month after Anderson Cooper revealed that he is openly gay and in a relationship with NYC nightclub owner Ben Maisani, photos surfaced of Maisani making out with another dude in Central Park. Why so heartless?
Not much scandal ever really came out of these photos, though, and recent reports show that Cooper and Maisani are still living together in NYC.
Jason Aldean
Date photo first appeared: September 2012
Popular country singer Jason Aldean was caught by paparazzi at a Los Angeles bar cheating on his wife of 11 years with former American Idol contestant and NBA cheerleader Brittany Kerr. He must have thought no one would recognize him without that hat.