Celebs who turned out to be monsters - sick paedophiles to gruesome murder

While the glare of Hollywood might have deflected attention off some truly monstrous celebrities over the years, both Operation Yewtree and the #MeToo movement have uncovered troubling allegations that led to convictions and prison time.

With the posthumous scandal against Jimmy Savile, dozens of British TV faces were investigated by police, with some leading to convictions. Across the pond in the US, Hollywood stars like Harvey Weinstein and music icons like P Diddy have faced rival scandals.

Sean 'Diddy' Combs

Rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs was sentenced to 50 months behind bars earlier this year, after pleading not guilty to racketeering, sex-trafficking and transportation for prostitution. He was eventually found guilty of the prostitution charges, after transporting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and an unnamed woman to places where they would exchange sex for money.

He was acquitted of racketeering and sex trafficking, managing to avoid a life sentence.

Ventura accused Combs of beating her, alleging he would "bash me on my head, knock me over, drag me and kick me", leading her to rely on drugs to "dissociate" from the situation.

Jimmy Savile

In one of the biggest scandals to ever hit the BBC, Jim'll Fix It star Jimmy Savile was exposed as a paedophile after hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse against him were investigated after his death in 2011.

Throughout Savile's life, the allegations had always been dismissed - though he was vocal about defending child sexual abuse images in a 2009 interview. He described fellow paedophile Gary Glitter as being "unfairly vilified" for watching "dodgy films" in the privacy of his own home.

Savile said: "Gary... has not tried to sell 'em, not tried to show them in public or anything like that. It were for his own gratification. Whether it was right or wrong is, of course, it's up to him as a person."

It was eventually found that Savile abused up to 1,000 victims of his own on BBC premises, in changing rooms and studios. He also allegedly abused patients at NHS hospitals.

Harvey Weinstein

Best known for co-founding Miramax and helping to produce such iconic films as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Silver Linings Playbook, Harvey Weinstein looked like nothing could touch him - until 2017. He was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy after sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s came to light.

More than 80 women spoke out against Weinstein, with the producer accused and eventually found guilty of sexual harassment and rape. He was eventually sentenced to 23 years behind bars and began serving his sentence in early 2020.

Just over a year later, he was extradited to LA where he faced further charges, being found guilty of three of the seven offences and sentenced to a further 16 years in prison. However, the New York rape convictions were later overturned due to procedural errors, leading to a retrial in which he was convicted again in a mixed verdict.

Rolf Harris

The late musician and artist Rolf Harris was most famous for his songs including Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport and Jake the Peg - but his legacy came crashing down in 2014, when he was convicted of the sexual assault of four underage girls.

Harris was sentenced to more than five years behind bars after being convicted on 12 counts of indecent assault on victims aged between eight and nineteen between the 60s and 80s. However, one of those convictions was overturned in 2017.

Harris was released from prison in 2017 and died in May 2023.

Gary Glitter

Real name Paul Francis Gadd, singer Gary Glitter produced such iconic tracks as Do You Wanna Touch Me and I Love You Love Me Love. But in 1999, he was convicted of downloading child sexual abuse images, before being convicted of child sexual abuse in 2006 and attempted rape in 2015.

Glitter admitted to downloading more than 4,000 images of child sexual abuse. Six Vietnamese girls and women aged between 11 and 23 alleged he had sex with them in 2005, and Glitter was in and out of prison for various offences, including committing obscene acts with two girls aged 10 and 11.

Fred Talbot

Former ITV weather presenter Fred Talbot was a familiar face on Granada Reports, starting work on This Morning in 1988. But in 2012, allegations emerged of abuse when Talbot was working as a teacher at Altrincham Grammar School in the 70s and 80s.

He was charged with 11 indecent assault offences against five schoolboys - with Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown testifying at his trial that Talbot would show gay porn films to his classes. Brown was one of Talbot's students but wasn't part of any other investigation. Talbot was found guilty of indecent assault against two teenage boys and sentenced to five years in prison.

But further allegations would follow, and eventually he was convicted of seven more indecent assault charges against minors in a Scottish court, plus sexual assault against a male over the age of 16. He was finally released from prison in December 2019.

Ryan Grantham

Riverdale star Ryan Grantham - best known for playing Jeffery Augustine in the teen drama - was sentenced to life behind bars after murdering his mother in 2020.

The actor shot his mum, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head while she played piano. Afterwards he filmed a video, telling the camera: "I shot her in the back of the head. In the moments after, she would have known it was me."

After the murder, he piled three guns, 12 Molotov cocktails and ammunition into a car and drove towards Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau's home, plotting to also murder him.

However, Grantham handed himself in to police and told officers what he had done.

Michael Jace

The Shield and Forrest Gump star Michael Jace was known best for playing Officer Julien Lowe in the cop drama. But in 2024, he committed a horrific act when he fatally shot his wife April in the back in front of their five-year-old and eight-year-old sons.

He then shot his wife in the legs and told her: "If you like running, then run to heaven". He believed she had been having an affair and was drunk at the time - and was later sentenced to 40 years in prison.

R Kelly

One of the bestselling musical artists of all time, R Kelly penned hits including I Believe I Can Fly and You Are Not Alone. But in 1994 at the age of 27, he married a 14-year-old girl. In 2002, a video circulated that appeared to show the musician urinating on an underaged girl.

Though he was charged with various offences over the years, he managed to escape conviction until his arrest in 2019, when he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He was found guilty in 2022 and sentenced to 31 years behind bars.

Paul Bateson

Paul Bateson might never have become a household name if not for his murder conviction. The suspected serial killer appeared in 1973 horror film The Exorcist, playing a hospital technician in the film's "most disturbing scene".

But in 1979, he was convicted of the murder of film journalist Addison Verrill and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years behind bars, beginning in 1979. But Bateson had been implicated in a string of unsolved murders of gay men in Manhattan - but he was never tried for those crimes. He died in 2012.