DragonKing Dark: The Fatty Arbuckle scandal
Who was Fatty Arbuckle?
Besides having a hilarious name, he was the center of the first big Hollywood scandal. Yes, the sad tale of Arbuckle is a cautionary tale for the movie industry still to this very day.
He was a silent movie era star until his career was destroyed by an allegation that he raped and killed a Hollywood actress. It took three trials with wildly varying verdicts to finally proclaim him not guilty with a written apology from the jury as well.
On this week’s look at the top 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, we look at the tragic story of Fatty Arbuckle.
Karl Stern is a pro wrestling historian specializing in the 1980s and pioneer era (pre-1900) of pro wrestling. He is an author who has written several books on wrestling and independently runs the When It Was Cool retro pop culture website.