When it comes to storytelling, certain tales are just better coming from the people who lived them
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Hayden-Panettiere-Charles-Spencer-Bunnie-Xo-092326-792b29af8b1f440eb84754ac2628ebe3.jpg "Hayden Panettiere; Charles Spencer; Bunnie Xo")
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These jaw-dropping tales came straight from the stars who lived them.
In their memoirs, these celebrities got real, sharing some of the most shocking events to transpire in their lives. From Liza Minnelli’s affair with Martin Scorsese to Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll‘s rocky early years of marriage to ex-husband Jelly Roll, to horrific events such as Brooke Shields‘ labia rejuvenation to Al Pacino‘s First Lady faux pas, these bombshells had us buzzing the second the book hit shelves.
Read on for some of the memorable (not always in a good way) revelations celebrities have shared in their memoirs.
01 of 22
Charles Spencer Claims King Charles Made a Shocking Statement About Diana After Her Death
In an exclusive sit-down with PEOPLE for his book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Princess Diana’s younger brother Charles Spencer recounted a conversation he had with then-Prince Charles amid funeral arrangements for his sister back in 1997. During a call, the two got into a tense exchange over whether or not Prince William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time, should walk behind their mother’s coffin. After Spencer expressed, “Diana wouldn’t have wanted it,” he claims the future king responded, “We’ll forget her soon enough.”
Following the Daily Mail’s initial release of the excerpt, a palace spokesperson issued a rare statement, saying, “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Earl Spencer doubled down on his claim, however, telling PEOPLE, “That sets the scene really for why I wrote the eulogy as I did, because there’s a line in there where I didn’t want William and Harry immersed in royal tradition to lose their souls, really, which Diana was nurturing. So I thought it was important to include that interchange with the then-Prince Charles, now King, because it sets the tone of really why I spoke like that, and also why I’m writing this book.”
02 of 22
Hayden Panettiere Says She Was Placed in Bed with a Famous Man While She Was a Teenager
Credit: Jason Mendez/Getty; Grand Central Publishing
In her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Hayden Panettiere opened up about a time she was lured into bed with an older man when she was just 18-years-old.
The late actress wrote she was on a trip in the South of France with a woman she considered a close friend and confidant. They were on a “super yacht” filled with celebrities, parties and endless champagne. One day, toward the end of the trip, her friend approached her and said there was someone she wanted Panettiere to meet downstairs.
The friend led her into a private cabin, where Panettiere says she found a “famous thirtysomething British singer-songwriter” shirtless in bed under sheets.
“‘Oh my God,’ I thought. ‘Is he naked under there?’” she wrote, claiming her trusted friend then whispered, “I want you to get in bed with him.”
Though she initially complied out of shock, the actress managed to stand her ground and exit before anything happened. “As soon as the door clicked close, my survival instinct kicked in,” she wrote. She said she told the man: “Look ... I don’t know what she said to you, but this is not going to happen,” before leaving the room.
03 of 22
Laverne Cox Reveals Her Father Abandoned Her at an Orphanage for a Month
Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Gallery Books
Laverne Cox‘s memoir, Transcendent delved into her tough upbringing growing up in Mobile, Alabama. In one heartbreaking anecdote, the Orange Is the New Black alum revealed that her father once abandoned her and her twin brother, M Lamar, causing them to stay in an orphanage for a month.
In the book, Cox revealed that because her mother, Gloria, was a single parent working multiple jobs to make ends meet, tensions were always high in their household. At one point during their adolescence, things escalated and Gloria dropped the siblings off at their father’s home.
After their dad referred to them as “f—-g freaks” during what would be their first and only interaction with him, his partner took them to a police station and they ended up in orphanage.
While Cox said her mother told them they were only in the orphanage for a week, the actress admits having a twin is helpful in affirming her story.
“I mean, the abandonment,” Cox told PEOPLE in May 2026. “My mom’s version of things isn’t correct. It’s nice to have a twin brother I can check with and be like, ‘It was a month, right?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, it was definitely a month.’ ”
04 of 22
Jill Biden Reveals Advice She Once Gave Kate Middleton
Credit: Christian Liewig - Corbis/Getty ; Gallery Books
A veteran of the spotlight, Jill Biden revealed the sage advice she once gave Kate Middleton when visiting the U.K. for King Charles’ coronation back in 2023. “I encouraged her to keep a journal about her experiences,” Dr. Biden wrote in her memoir, View from the East Wing. “She said she liked to draw and paint, but I said you can never have too many ways to privately express your feelings.”
05 of 22
Liza Minnelli’s Affair with Martin Scorsese
Credit: Greg Gorman
Liza Minnelli did not hold back when it came to revealing stories from her life in her memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! Now 79, the renowned actress opened up about everything from her relationship with her mother, to hitting rock bottom to her love life.
In one chapter, the EGOT winner revealed she had an affair with Martin Scorsese back in 1976, while starring in his film New York, New York. She was married to producer Jack Haley Jr. at that time.
“He was a diabolically handsome man who shared my love for film. I was a director’s daughter who respected Marty’s role and authority. Even though I now realize I didn’t understand him,” Minnelli wrote.
She would later run into the legendary director at the 2014 Oscars, where she says she “walked up to say hello” to him, but “unfortunately, he turned away from me. Very sad.”
06 of 22
Bunnie Xo Reveals She Contemplated Suicide After Jelly Roll’s Affair
Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Bunnie Xo made a shocking revelation in her book, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic. The podcast host, who’s been married to musician Jelly Roll since 2016, revealed that he had an affair early in their marriage that led her to contemplate taking her own life.
The couple weren’t strangers to inviting “other women into our bed” together. However, things took a turn after she found out the “Save Me” singer had remained in touch with a former fling.
After a couple of weeks apart from one another, Bunnie made a surprise appearance at one of Jelly’s concerts to speak with him. “He didn’t want me there and was mad I would think it was okay to show up unannounced. I found out later that it was because he had his ex-fling waiting for him in a hotel room down the street,” she writes in the book.
“That night I contemplated taking my life,” writes Bunnie. “The pain was so intense that I genuinely just wanted to end it all. I went into my bathroom and grabbed a bottle of pills I had stashed in case of an emergency and held them in my hand. I stared at the bottle, wondering what it would feel like to die from an overdose.”
She talked herself out of the idea, and the two went their separate ways for three months. Not excusing his behavior, she decided to get back with him, writing that she felt as though he wasn’t “a horrible person” for what happened and that “everyone deserves a second chance.”
Jelly Roll filed for divorce from the podcast host in May 2026.
07 of 22
Spencer Pratt Admitted to Leaking Mary-Kate Olsen Photos to the Press
Credit: Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty; Gallery Books
In his memoir The Guy You Loved to Hate: Confessions from a Reality TV Villain, Spencer Pratt admitted to having leaked photos of Mary-Kate Olsen partying with then-boyfriend, Max Winkler — the son of Happy Days actor, Henry Winkler — back in 2004.
At the time, he wanted to direct a film but didn’t have the funds, so Pratt wrote that he tapped into a “wasted resource” in the form of Max’s bedroom “photo shrine” to Olsen, with whom he’d recently split. Describing the images as “young love documented in European hotels, Hollywood parties, stolen moments,” Pratt said he urged Max to get rid of the photos.
“I asked Max if I could take the photos off his wall — you know, for his healing process,” he wrote. “He didn’t say no, so I took that to be a yes.”
He would go on to sell the images for $50,000.
“Less than a week later there it was, evidence of my entrepreneurial genius staring back at me from the InTouch cover at a gas station: ‘TEENS GONE WILD!’ across the cover,” he wrote.
“A shot of Mary-Kate with a constellation of empties—‘LOOK AT ALL THE EMPTIES!’—and there I was in the background, frozen mid-shaka. I hadn’t sold that frame. Someone else was shopping, and now I wasn’t just the seller, I was part of the merchandise. My face was now forever linked to Mary-Kate Olsen’s supposed wild phase, preserved in grocery store checkout lines across America.”
Pratt stands by his decision to leak the images, writing, “When you really think about it, it was a win-win. Mary-Kate got her rebel rebrand, Max got closure.”
08 of 22
Scheana Shay Spilled About Her Eddie Cibrian Affair
Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty; Grand Central Publishing
Vanderpump Rules alum Scheana Shay came clean about the details of her affair with Eddie Cibrian in her memoir, My Good Side. In an excerpt shared with Entertainment Weekly, the reality TV star walked readers through the details of how she fell for the actor.
According to Shay, they met in 2006 when she was working at a “private member’s cigar lounge and restaurant,” shortly after moving to L.A. He would come into the place to play poker.
“Eddie was the sweetest, funniest, most charismatic, consummate gentleman I’d ever met. He always made me feel like I was the only girl in the room when I was working,” she wrote.
As for his marriage to Brandi Glanville, Shay says she was none the wiser. “This was pre–social media, so it wasn’t like he was posting pics of his family in matching pajamas in front of a Christmas tree,” she said, adding that he didn’t wear his wedding ring around her.
“To be clear, Eddie wasn’t my boyfriend (at least not exclusively). But we did start a physical relationship at the end of 2006, which was a weekly booty call,” she later explained.
09 of 22
Kerry Washington Found Out Her Dad Wasn’t Her Biological Father
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Kerry Washington fans know two things about her: She is very close to her parents and she is extremely private about her family life. So, it came as a surprise to many when in 2023, she opened up about a lifelong family secret.
In her memoir, Thicker Than Water, the actress explained she discovered her father, Earl Washington, wasn’t her biological father shortly after she told her parents she was planning to appear on Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s Finding Your Roots, a PBS series on which celebrities learn about their ancestors through DNA testing.
And though a discovery like that would be earth-shattering for most people, Washington said she felt a sense of relief; she always felt as though something was off.
“When I got this information, I was like, ‘Oh. I now know my story,’” she said. “I didn’t know what my story was, but I was playing the supporting character in their story.”
“I think that dissonance of like, ‘Somebody is not telling me something about my body’ made me feel like there was something in my body I had to fix,” the Scandal actress — who struggled with anxiety, self-esteem issues, and an eating disorderwhen she was young — revealed.
10 of 22
Brooke Shields Got Labia Rejuvenation Without Her Consent
Credit: Taylor Hill/Getty; Flatiron Books
Brooke Shields‘ memoir Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old revealed many things, but perhaps one of the more disturbing stories was about a doctor who gave a “bonus” labia rejuvenation without her consent.
After Shields had part of her cervix removed after precancerous cells were detected, which caused difficulty conceiving, the actress’s gynecologist told her that she was likely a candidate for labial reduction surgery due to the discomfort she experienced as a result of her anatomy.
Shields saw a male surgeon for the procedure, but when she came out of it, she was informed that he had “tightened everything up” for her in (“translation: given a younger vagina”) addition to the surgery she had agreed to her.
“‘After two kids, everything is looser,’ he said. He acted as if he’d done me a favor, and that I should, in fact, be grateful. There was a real ‘I threw this in for free, little lady’ vibe to his delivery,” she wrote in the book.
“But I had never asked to be ‘tightened’ or ‘rejuvenated’ ... It was not something I wanted. I felt numb.”
11 of 22
Britney Spears Had an Abortion Under Pressure from Justin Timberlake
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Britney Spears famously dated Justin Timberlake from 1999 to 2002 and while the common belief was that they broke up because she had cheated on him, Spears had never spoken out about their relationship since they parted ways.
That changed in 2023 when the pop star released her memoirThe Woman in Me. In it, Spears revealed she had gotten pregnant by the “Cry Me a River” singer during their relationship, but subsequently aborted the baby as he said they were too young to start a family.
“[The pregnancy] was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears wrote.
“But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”
Spears revealed she “never would have done it” if the decision “had been left up to me alone,” but she said Justin was “so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.” She said undergoing the abortion was “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”
A rep for Timberlake did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment at the time.
12 of 22
Christie Brinkley Debunked a Myth About Her and Elle MacPherson
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty for Fragrance Foundation; Harper Influence
In her memoir, Uptown Girl, Christie Brinkley shared some details about the genesis of her relationship with ex-husband Billy Joel. When they met, she had just ended things with Olivier Chandon and Joel had just called it quits from Elle MacPherson.
Still, Brinkley said, the musician wanted to alert his ex that things were getting serious between himself and Brinkley, a move she thought was “completely unnecessary.”
“Once he and I started seeing each other, he insisted on calling Elle, while I was on the line, to tell her that he was going to be exclusive with me,” she wrote.
“Still, that didn’t stop rumors from circulating that she was waiting for Billy in his apartment the first time I ever went there, which wasn’t true (the media seemed always to want to pit models against each other, even though there were more friendships in the industry than anything else).”
13 of 22
Rebel Wilson Was Paid $3,500 for ‘Bridesmaids’
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage; Simon & Schuster
There’s no question that though Rebel Wilson had a small part in Bridesmaids, she had one of the most memorable performances in the film. And while the hit comedy grossed over $300 million worldwide, Wilson revealed in her book Rebel Rising, she only made $3,500 for her work.
The money went toward paying her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) dues and she was able to join the union. Even though she said she “got paid nothing,” the Australian native said the experience of shooting the movie “was everything.”
14 of 22
Josh Brolin Took a 12-Hour Acid Trip
Credit: Joe Maher/Getty; Joey Feldman
In From Under the Truck, Josh Brolin revealed he had some drug experiences during which he saw “epileptic faces, desperate children, rabid animals coming at me,” and other frightening things.
However, he wrote about one 12-hour acid trip that changed his life. “It was as hopeful a day as I could’ve had,” the actor recalled. “I had not only weathered the cave that turned me from a boy into a man, but I had also thrived. I arrived at what I thought was a beginning of a happier life.”
When he “came down after 12 hours, just as the sun began to set, I knew that life was good and was to be lived and experienced and tasted with a fully protruding, exposed tongue,” Brolin wrote.
15 of 22
John Stamos Found Ex Teri Copley in Bed with Tony Danza
Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty; Henry Holt and Co.
John Stamos did not hold back in his memoir, If You Would Have Told Me. The actor opened up about his days on ER, his addiction struggles, even the moment he found out about former Full House costar Bob Saget’s death.
One of the more shocking bombshells Stamos revealed was that he once caught ex Teri Copley in bed with Tony Danza. As the story goes, Stamos wanted to make things even more serious with Copley, so when she started dodging his phone calls, he showed up at her house ... and got the surprise of a lifetime.
“The blinds are closed, but the door is slightly open,” he wrote. “I take a peek inside and see four feet protruding from the shabby-chic, floral-print duvet that once kept me warm. My Tiny Dancer is in bed with Mr. Porsche Speedster. They are sleeping. I can’t tell who he is, but I recognize Teri’s ass barely covered by the sheets. It looks like her new poster.”
For her part, Copley denied the affair allegations in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “I wondered, ‘What was John doing there?’ because we had broken up,” she said. “He just looked at me and shook his head, and walked away.”
16 of 22
Demi Moore Had a Miscarriage While with Ashton Kutcher
Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Harper Perennial
In an interview with The New York Times about her book Inside Out, Demi Moore revealed she became pregnant while dating Ashton Kutcher back in 2003. However, six months into the pregnancy, she lost the child, a girl whom she would have named Chaplin Ray.
After the couple married in 2005, Moore and Kutcher reportedly sought out fertility treatments, but after they were unsuccessful, Moore began drinking and abusing Vicodin to cope with the pain; the couple divorced in 2013, after Moore found out Kutcher had been unfaithful.
17 of 22
Paris Hilton Had an Illicit Relationship with Her Eighth Grade Teacher
Paris Hilton has been a public figure since she was in her late teens, with plenty of stories about her in the public imagination. But the media mogul took back her narrative in Paris: The Memoir.
She shared many shocking revelations from her childhood, including one about an illicit relationship she had with her eighth-grade teacher.
Hilton recalled how all of her peers had a crush on a “handsome young teacher” who had a “very Abercrombie” look to him. But Mr. Abercrombie told Paris, “I’ve got a crush on you,” she wrote, and asked her for her phone number, warning her not to tell anyone.
“Mr. Abercrombie called me almost every night, and we talked for hours about how amazingly mature, beautiful, and intelligent I was, how sensual, misunderstood, and special,” she wrote. “He reminded me that Princess Diana was 13 years younger than Prince Charles. And Priscilla Presley was my age when Elvis fell in love with her.”
Looking back, Hilton gave herself grace for not knowing how problematic their communication was. “It took decades for me to actually speak the word pedophile,” she reflected. “Casting him in the role of child molester meant casting myself in the role of victim, and I just couldn’t go there.”
18 of 22
Jada Pinkett Smith Used to Sell Drugs
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Jada Pinkett Smith never made any bones about the fact that she grew up in the roughest parts of Baltimore. In her memoir, Worthy, she opened up about how dire things were in her neighborhood, revealing she became a high-school drug dealer in pursuit of financial freedom.
“Drugs were going to touch you, period,” she recalled. “You could use them, you could sell them, but there was no being in an environment like that and drugs not touch you.”
She continued, “And I’m not saying that it’s right, of course, now being in a whole different mindset. But when you’re living in a war zone and you just thinking about survival, I wasn’t trying to use drugs. I surely wasn’t going to be a drug dealer’s girlfriend. But I wanted money so that I could be independent. I wanted to take care of myself.”
19 of 22
Jennette McCurdy Was Glad Her Mom Died After Their Fraught Relationship
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Jennette McCurdy‘s I’m Glad My Mom Died was a candid telling of the harrowing trauma she faced throughout her childhood in part due to the stifling control of her late mother, Debra.
Forcing her into acting was one of the ways Debra controlled her, McCurdy revealed, looking back at one particular instance in which her mother lashed out after the iCarly star revealed she wanted to quit acting.
“‘Don’t be silly, you love acting. It’s your favorite thing in the world,’ Mom says in a way that makes it sound like a threat,” she wrote.
“You can’t quit! This was our chance! This was ouuuuur chaaaaance!” McCurdy writes of her mother’s reaction. “She bangs on the steering wheel, accidentally hitting the horn. Mascara trickles down her cheeks. She’s hysterical, like I was in the Hollywood Homicide audition. Her hysteria frightens me and demands to be taken care of.”
20 of 22
Pamela Anderson Walked in on Jack Nicholson’s Threesome
Credit: Michael Buckner/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty; Dey Street Books
After years of being scrutinized in the media, former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson decided to tell her story in her own words. And while the book was filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, she shared one particularly funny, albeit very uncomfortable, run-in she had with Jack Nicholson.
Anderson was visiting the infamous Playboy mansion when she bumped into The Shining actor while he was “having a threesome in a bathroom,” she revealed.
“Mr. Nicholson had two beautiful women with him,” Anderson wrote in Love, Pamela. “They were all giggling and kissing up against the wall, sliding all over each other. I walked by to use the mirror, bending over the sink to fix my lip gloss.”
“Trying not to look, but I couldn’t help myself and caught his eye in the reflection,” the memoir reads. “I guess that got him to the finish line, because he made a funny noise, smiled and said, ‘Thanks, dear.’”
21 of 22
Al Pacino Had an Oops Moment with Jackie Kennedy
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With a career as storied as Al Pacino‘s, one would expect some of the most enthralling, shocking and purely out-of-this-world revelations from his memoir. One would be right.
In his book Sonny Boy, the legendary actor recalled the one time he made a meeting with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis rather awkward.
The former First Lady and her daughter Caroline had attended his Broadway production of Richard III, and came backstage to meet him.
While “slumped” in a chair in his dressing room after a tiring performance, Pacino put his hand out for Jackie to kiss.
“God only knows what I was thinking. Why would I ever do that? Please tell me, what’s wrong with me?” he wrote.
“I must have believed I was dreaming that Jackie Onassis was there. Perhaps I was hallucinating that she was doing the play with me, so she was my queen— and as the queen, after all, she must now kiss the hand of the king.”
22 of 22
Mike ‘The Situation’ Sorrentino on Drug Use While Filming ‘The Jersey Shore’
In his memoir, Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation – How I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison, Mike Sorrentino revealed the man we loved on The Jersey Shore as The Situation was battling a serious painkiller addiction.
Among other revelations — like being caught by production and called out by Jenny “JWoww” Farley about his pill usage — Sorrentino shared the creative way he was able to sneak drugs when the crew filmed their third season in Italy.
Sorrentino put 125 Roxicets — a narcotic made of oxycodone and acetaminophen — into an Altoids tin and brought four tins. From there, he removed the cushions of his shoes “and cut out enough room in the heel to place two Altoids tins in each shoe,” he wrote. “I then replaced the insole and packed the kicks in a large suitcase with 20 other pairs.”
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