Top 10 Times Controversial Figures Faced JUSTICE
These infamous people fought the law and the law won. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 controversial figures who faced justice for their actions.
Transcript
00:00Six accusers took the stand against Harvey Weinstein at his trial and some 80 other women
00:05have made allegations of misconduct against him.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10
00:12controversial figures who faced justice for their actions.
00:16The defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records
00:23in the first degree.
00:25Number 10, Bernard Bernie Madoff.
00:28There's just one thing about him, though.
00:32He never looks you in the eye.
00:34Retirees going on food stamps, charities losing their donations, people losing their homes,
00:40and even taking their own lives.
00:42These were only some of the consequences of the world's largest Ponzi scheme,
00:46perpetrated by financier Bernie Madoff.
00:49Bernie Madoff's fraud was not a complex fraud.
00:53It involved simply taking people's money, telling them he was going to invest their money,
00:57and he never did.
00:58No one knows exactly when Madoff's $65 billion scheme began,
01:02but some estimates have it going on for 33 years before it finally ended in 2008.
01:08Despite numerous whistleblower complaints,
01:10the SEC had never once investigated or disciplined Madoff.
01:14In fact, he was only caught when his sons blew the whistle,
01:17one day after Madoff came clean, proving that blood maybe isn't thicker than water.
01:22I just can't continue this charade any longer,
01:26and that's what caused me to acknowledge to my family.
01:32Madoff pled guilty to fraud and money laundering,
01:34and was sentenced to 150 years in prison, where he died of disease in 2021.
01:41Number nine, Sam Bankman-Fried.
01:43Bankman-Fried said, I never thought that what I was doing was illegal,
01:47but I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn't meet that standard.
01:51Cryptocurrency has been around since 2009,
01:54but for most people, it's still just what their odd uncle
01:57tries to get them to invest in at every family Christmas party.
02:00One of crypto's poster boys was FTX co-founder and current incarcerated felon, Sam Bankman-Fried.
02:07The MIT alum founded cryptocurrency exchange firm Alameda Research with Tara McAuley in 2017.
02:14Two years later, he diversified his portfolio by co-founding his own crypto exchange, FTX.
02:20When Alameda Research experienced financial difficulties in 2022,
02:25Bankman-Fried illegally dipped into his own cookie jar,
02:28and used FTX client funds to help keep it afloat.
02:31He assured those customers, as his FTX crypto exchange was collapsing,
02:37that their money was safe. But when customers went to withdraw their funds in November 2022,
02:41the funds were not there.
02:42This triggered a mass exodus of customers from FTX, which eventually went bankrupt.
02:48Bankman-Fried was arrested for fraud and conspiracy, and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
02:53Bankman-Fried plans to appeal his conviction. He told us he does not believe he received a
02:57fair trial, writing, a one-sided media frenzy and the defense's inability to
03:02get in critical evidence infected the whole process.
03:05Number 8. Danny Masterson
03:07In May 2023, a jury of his peers found actor Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of sexual assault.
03:14This was the culmination of a long and difficult road to get justice for his victims.
03:19The women, who were attacked in the early 2000s, came forward in 2017.
03:23Masterson's first trial, in 2022, had a hung jury and was declared a mistrial.
03:28The Church of Scientology, of which Masterson was a member,
03:32reportedly worked heavily to derail his conviction.
03:35The Church reportedly offered financial incentives to victims to not come forward,
03:40harassed or threatened them, and targeted police officers and attorneys investigating the charges.
03:45Jane Doe One testified the Church blamed her and put her through weeks of
03:50ethics programs. She says she felt pressured to make peace with Masterson and move on.
03:55The Church has denied these allegations.
03:57That is the law of Scientology. We are not allowed
04:00to report crimes to the authorities. We're not allowed to sue each other.
04:0520 years after the attacks, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
04:09Once the verdicts were read, he was immediately handcuffed and remanded into custody.
04:15Jeffrey Epstein
04:16Financier Jeffrey Epstein amassed his fortune in the 1980s,
04:20counting as friends many of society's elite, including billionaires, heads of state,
04:25royalty, and celebrities. The first allegations of abuse against him emerged in the late 90s.
04:31Subsequent investigations uncovered dozens of other victims,
04:34mostly minors, who had been abused by Epstein or his associates for years.
04:39As we found additional victims, one victim would tell us about others.
04:43Those others would tell us about others, and it began to multiply geometrically.
04:48In 2008, he received a controversial but sweetheart deal that saw him plead
04:53guilty to solicitation and spend only 13 months in jail.
04:56The victims are left beaten and destroyed and with no answers.
05:02The Me Too movement brought renewed attention to the case,
05:05and Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges
05:09following another extensive investigation. He was found dead in his cell one month later,
05:14having apparently taken his own life, although many claim foul play was involved.
05:19We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility
05:23that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation.
05:28Number 6. Elizabeth Holmes
05:31Asking yourself whether you're wrong is a really good thing.
05:35If you really feel strong conviction that you're doing the right thing, then keep going.
05:42Sporting her signature Steve Jobs turtlenecks and baritone voice,
05:45Elizabeth Holmes appeared to be the perfect role model for aspiring female entrepreneurs.
05:51The Stanford dropout founded her company Theranos in 2003. Its signature creation?
05:56A revolutionary blood testing device, Edison, that only needed a few drops of blood.
06:01The concept captivated investors and media and turned Holmes into a startup sensation.
06:07At its peak, the company was worth $9 billion,
06:10landing Holmes on the Time 100 Most Influential People list.
06:14A 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation, however,
06:18exposed that Edison was a failure and Theranos built on lies.
06:22The reckoning fueled a barrage of scathing news reports.
06:26The SEC charged Holmes, along with her former COO slash boyfriend,
06:30Ramesh Sunny Balvani, with defrauding investors of $700 million.
06:35She was relegated to Fortune's 19 Most Disappointing Leaders list
06:40and sentenced to over 11 years in prison for wire fraud.
06:43These were the last moments of freedom for Elizabeth Holmes as she entered a Texas federal
06:48prison. It's where she'll spend tonight and potentially the next 11 years. A stunning
06:54fall from grace for the one-time tech superstar.
06:57Number 5. Bill Cosby
07:00For decades, he was America's dad, one of its top comedians, and an inspiration to many in the
07:05field. That all came to a grinding halt when Hannibal Buress accused Cosby of sexual assault
07:11during a 2014 comedy routine. Up until this point, accusations of assault and abuse against
07:17Cosby had not been taken very seriously. However, Buress' remarks, combined with the failed
07:23Meme Me marketing stunt from the Cosby team, opened the floodgates.
07:27Multiple women came forward, accusing Cosby of drugging and abusing them.
07:31I never saw any drugs, but I would wake up completely confused, half-dressed.
07:39Cosby denied these allegations, but admitted to occasionally drugging women while in, quote,
07:44consensual relationships. He was tried and found guilty of aggravated assault in 2018.
07:50The verdict was overturned in 2021, but Cosby's career and legacy have been irreparably tarnished.
07:56Just hours after the court's ruling, Cosby coming before cameras outside of his home,
08:00celebrating his release after serving more than two years of a three-to-ten-year prison sentence.
08:05Number 4. Alex Jones
08:07But I will stomp your head in if you start a fight with me, you thug scum.
08:12Anyways, excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.
08:13In December 2012, 26 people, including 20 students,
08:17tragically lost their lives during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,
08:21sparking renewed gun control talks in the U.S. Meanwhile, like an angry chihuahua
08:26barking from its owner's purse, Alex Jones called the incident a false flag and a hoax,
08:32claimed the victims and survivors were all crisis actors, and tormented their families for years.
08:37I can't even describe the last nine and a half years of the living hell that I and others have
08:45had to endure because of the negligence and the recklessness of Alex Jones.
08:51He then proceeded to sell supplements and other largely bizarre or useless products
08:56to his millions of listeners. After defamation lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut,
09:01Jones was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion to victims' families.
09:06Jones filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and is now forced to sell or surrender most of his assets
09:12in order to pay these massive settlements.
09:14The plaintiffs, 15 of them, relatives of the dead, plus an FBI agent who responded to the scene,
09:21sat weeping in the spectator's gallery as this award was read.
09:26Number three, Donald Trump.
09:28The defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts
09:33of falsifying business records in the first degree.
09:35Reality TV star and self-made-ish businessman Donald Trump has become one of the most
09:41polarizing figures of our time. For years, he bulldozed through life, mercilessly doing
09:46and saying whatever was on his mind, regardless of the consequences.
09:50As President of the United States, his inappropriate behavior,
09:54witch-hunting, and spouting of utter nonsense made him both worshipped and reviled.
09:59The Home Alone 2 actor faces multiple election fraud charges
10:03and has been hit with over $400 million of civil litigation penalties.
10:07In May 2024, he was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
10:13This is a scam. This is a rigged trial.
10:16He has appealed this verdict, deflecting blame and desperately trying to make himself great again.
10:22Recent Supreme Court decisions may have an impact on some of the charges against him.
10:27If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone.
10:30Number two, R. Kelly.
10:32The so-called Pied Piper of R&B is no stranger to sexual abuse allegations.
10:38I am a survivor.
10:39I lived it. And I survived it.
10:45They had followed him since he first started to bump and grind in the 90s.
10:49In late 1994, Kelly illegally wed singer Aaliyah while she was still a minor.
10:54The wedding was annulled just a few weeks later at the request of her family.
10:59An infamous 2002 video that showed Kelly abusing a minor led to an investigation
11:04and trial where he was eventually acquitted.
11:06In the middle of all of these allegations, R. Kelly is just dropping music.
11:11The 2019 Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly renewed the investigations against him
11:17and he was arrested for multiple federal charges of racketeering and sexual abuse.
11:22Kelly believed he could fly, but in the end,
11:24he just crash landed into a 31-year prison sentence.
11:28Prosecutors accused him of leading a criminal enterprise of managers,
11:31bodyguards, and other employees to recruit and abuse women.
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11:51Number one, Harvey Weinstein.
11:53Six accusers took the stand against Harvey Weinstein at his trial and some
11:5780 other women have made allegations of misconduct against him.
12:01Famous movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was first accused of sexual assault and abuse in a 2017
12:07New York Times New Yorker expose. Eventually, over 80 women would come forward with abuse
12:13accusations going back 30 years. Weinstein was dismissed from his company and had many
12:18of his titles and honors revoked. He was found guilty of sexual assault and misconduct in
12:23separate trials in New York and California and sentenced to a combined 39 years in prison.
12:29His New York verdict was reversed on appeal due to legal technicalities in April 2024,
12:34though he remains in prison. Judge Madeline Singus wrote that the majority was whitewashing
12:39the facts to conform to a he said, she said narrative and said the court of appeals was
12:44continuing a, quote, disturbing trend of overturning jury's guilty verdicts in cases
12:50involving sexual violence. Despite a legendary five decade career, Weinstein will now be
12:56remembered for his reputation as a bully, for his assault convictions and for helping launch the Me
13:01Too movement. Yesterday's verdict was certainly a watershed moment for the those involved in the
13:06Me Too movement. And many say this is just the beginning. Which of these controversial people
13:12do you think deserves justice the most? Who out there still needs to be held accountable?
13:16Let us know in the comments below. Accusations swirled around him for decades,
13:21and authorities believe for years, his actions were protected by his fame.
13:42Transcribed by https://otter.ai