Scandals That Rocked The 80's

Savings & Loans Crisis

Savings and loan crisis in which 747 institutions failed and had to be rescued with $160 billion in taxpayer dollars. Reagan's "elimination of loopholes" in the tax code included the elimination of the "passive loss" provisions that subsidized rental housing. Because this was removed retroactively, it bankrupted many real estate developments which used this tax break as a premise, which in turn bankrupted 747 Savings and Loans, many of whom were operating more or less as banks, thus requiring the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to cover their debts and losses with tax payer money. This with some other "deregulation" policies, ultimately led to the largest political and financial scandal in U.S. history to that date, the savings and loan crisis. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $150 billion, about $125 billion of which was directly subsidized by the U.S. government, which further increased the large budget deficits of the early 1990s

Milli Vanilli Caught Lip Syncing

Milli Vanilli was a West German-based R&B, pop and dance music project created by Frank Farian in Munich in 1988. The group was formed with Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album Girl You Know It's True achieved international success and earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on 21 February 1990. Milli Vanilli became one of the most popular pop acts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their success turned to infamy when the Grammy award was withdrawn after Morvan, Pilatus and their agent Sergio Vendero confessed that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing any of the vocals heard on the record. The group recorded a comeback album in 1998, but Rob Pilatus died before the album was released.

Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson stripped of Olympic Medal

(born December 30, 1961) is a Jamaican-born Canadian former sprinter, who won two Olympic bronze medals and an Olympic gold medal, which was later rescinded. He set consecutive 100 metres world records at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics, but he was disqualified for doping, losing the Olympic title and both records.

Pete Rose betting scandal

Peter Edward "Pete" Rose, Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989

In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, including claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. In 2004, after years of public denial, Rose admitted to betting on baseball and on, but not against, the Reds. The issue of Rose's possible reinstatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.

Marvin Hagler Robbed of his Middleweight Title

Marvelous Marvin Hagler was undisputed middleweight champion of the world for 6 years and 7 months. In 1987, though, he made an error that would cost him his title and ultimately end his career. He agreed to fight Sugar Ray Leonard, darling of the boxing establishment, darling of the media and game player extraordinaire.

The fight went the distance and was close, no matter who you think ultimately won. When it was over Hagler rightly raised his arms in triumph while Leonard slumped to the canvas. Hagler knew the unwritten rule of boxing: you have to BEAT the champion to take his title, not just go the distance with him. But on this night business considerations ruled and the more photogenic Leonard was awarded a split decision victory.

Hagler justifiably felt robbed. He lobbied for a year or so to get a rematch but Leonard, despite not being as good a fighter as Hagler, was no dummy and refused Hagler's calls for another fight. Hagler retired in disgust shortly afterward stating "...since Leonard has been playing games, it would probably take another year to work things out."

Iran–Contra affair

The IranContra affair, also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or the IranContra scandal, was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped thereby to secure the release of several US hostages and to fund the Contras in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress.

Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker

James Orsen "Jim" Bakker (pronounced "Baker"; born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister and a former host (with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker) of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program.

A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about his imprisonment and divorce. He later remarried and returned to televangelism.

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger (OV-099) (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members, which included five NASA astronauts and two Payload Specialists. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC). Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized burning gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB aft field joint attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft field joint attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces broke up the orbiter.

Vanessa Williams stripped of Miss America Crown

In 1983, Williams became the first African American woman to win the title of Miss America (Miss America 1984). Williams was forced to resign a few weeks prior to the end of her reign on July 22, 1984 due to a scandal surrounding the publication of unauthorized nude photographs in Penthouse magazine. In 2015, 32 years after being crowned and during the Miss America 2016 pageant (where she was serving as head judge), Miss America CEO Sam Haskell apologized to Williams for what was said to her during the events of 1984.

Rob Lowe Sex Tape Scandal

In 1988, Lowe was involved in a sex scandal over a videotape of him having sex with a 22-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl he met in a night club. They were videotaped with Lowe during the night before the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. As the age of consent is 16 in Georgia, both were of legal age to engage in sexual activity, although not to be recorded. At the time, Lowe was campaigning for Michael Dukakis.

Another part of the same tape was leaked at the time, showing Lowe and his friend Justin Moritt both having sexual intercourse and oral sex with a young American model named Jennifer, who was never identified, in a hotel room in Paris. This part of the original tape was sold as one of the first commercially available celebrity sex tapes, damaging Lowe's public image. Eventually, his career rebounded, and Lowe mocked his own behavior during two post-scandal appearances as host of Saturday Night Live.