When a celeb scandal breaks, a documentary is sure to follow. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the must-see films about the often-controversial inner lives of celebrities.
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00:00That leads us to the real question which is, what is the actual truth?
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the must-see
00:11films about the often controversial inner lives of celebrities.
00:15I know the names of 48 women whose lives Kelly has ruined.
00:1948 women can't be lying.
00:21Number 10.
00:22Robin Williams, Come Inside My Mind.
00:25Stand up for survival.
00:27For me, that's jazz.
00:28That's what I have to do.
00:30True to its title, director Marina Zinovich's film does its absolute best to determine what
00:35made comedic genius Williams, who took his own life in 2014, tick.
00:40Along the way, the audience hears from Williams's friends, family, and co-workers,
00:46who describe Williams as being the consummate showman in public,
00:50yet shy and quiet in his most personal moments.
00:53He was really comfortable on stage.
00:56Off stage, I just felt he was holding himself together.
00:59Most heartbreakingly of all, we learn about the legendary comedian's troubled final years,
01:04which saw him struggle with diagnoses for both Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.
01:10Williams's efforts to put on a brave face while concealing his illnesses go a long way
01:15in humanizing a beloved giant of a man.
01:19Early in life, did you have a fear of abandonment?
01:21Oh, I have.
01:22It's a primal fear for any child,
01:24and it dictates a lot of how you deal with life.
01:28He was always looking for a connection.
01:30Number 9.
01:31Anna Nicole Smith, You Don't Know Me.
01:34I would just advise people just to follow their dreams.
01:37They can come true.
01:39I'm living proof.
01:40Model and actress Smith was controversial for the majority of her 39 years,
01:45and from early on too.
01:47Smith, born Vicki Lynn Hogan in 1967,
01:51married 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall in 1994.
01:56This led Smith, who had been named Playboy's 1993 Playmate of the Year,
02:02to public scrutiny, as well as accusations of gold digging.
02:05Anna Nicole Smith has died.
02:08Modeling, movies, her own TV show.
02:10The world is infatuated with Anna Nicole Smith.
02:13A death that opened a Pandora's box of questions.
02:16Further scandals ensued over the years,
02:18such as Smith's battle to claim what she felt she was owed from Marshall's estate,
02:23as well as the tragic passing of her son Daniel shortly before her own.
02:28Ursula McFarlane's You Don't Know Me attempts to untangle Smith's relationship with scandal,
02:33and serves as a helpful primer for those who wish to learn more about Smith's life.
02:38What is the truth about Anna Nicole Smith?
02:41Number 8.
02:42The New York Times presents Malfunction, the dressing down of Janet Jackson.
02:47The game is starting and we are having our talent people coming in and giving us updates
02:52because Justin Timberlake had flown out to Los Angeles and flew back in on Sunday back to Texas.
02:59Is this the most consequential one second in the history of live broadcasting?
03:04While the jury is out on that particular accolade,
03:07it's inarguable that the Super Bowl 38 halftime show had farther reaching consequences
03:12than anyone could have possibly imagined.
03:14There was a request for him to go in to speak to Janet, her stylist.
03:20We as the producers didn't, we weren't in the room.
03:23Malfunction was released as an edition of the New York Times presents,
03:27which had previously been a vessel for the widely publicized Framing Britney Spears documentary.
03:33The doc breaks down the intense controversy that followed in the wake of Nipplegate,
03:37as well as shocking new allegations that Justin Timberlake had helped to engineer the stunt
03:42as a means of getting back at Britney Spears.
03:45There was a small conversation that lasted minutes in her dressing room.
03:51Justin came out, everyone went off to get in their ready start positions.
03:57Number 7.
03:58Tiger.
03:59When Tiger was 10 months old,
04:01I unstrapped him out of his high chair one day and he walked over and hit the ball.
04:06There it is.
04:09I said, oh my God, I've got something special.
04:11Based on Jeff Benedict and Armin Kataian's 2018 book Tiger Woods,
04:17this two-part HBO doc focuses on the life and career of the man some have deemed
04:22the greatest golfer of all time.
04:24Directors Matthew Heineman and Matthew Hamachek painstakingly pieced together a version of the
04:30iconic athlete's life.
04:32That is, without Woods' input.
04:34He asked me to ask his dad if he could play some other sports,
04:39but Mr. Woods said he had to concentrate on his golf.
04:43I wanted to protect that sweetness of him.
04:47Despite this setback, Tiger will leave your jaw on the floor for multiple reasons.
04:52Heineman and Hamachek's docuseries truly puts you in Woods' golf shoes.
04:56From the crushing pressure his father placed on him to succeed,
05:00to the overwhelming media scrutiny he faced in the wake of multiple
05:04extramarital affairs in the late 2000s,
05:06Tiger shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the dark side of celebrity.
05:10Tiger was going to be this bridge between all the different races and tribes of humanity.
05:16How are you handling all the adulation?
05:18I honestly don't feel comfortable with that.
05:20Number six, Britney versus Spears.
05:23I just want my life back.
05:25Britney's been silenced to speak out about anything that's really going on.
05:30Britney never had one person she could trust, not mom, not dad.
05:33Documentary filmmaker Aaron Lee Carr was among the first prominent voices in the media to
05:38examine the pop superstar's controversial conservatorship.
05:42Over the course of two years, Lee Carr researched the arrangement,
05:46and Britney versus Spears demonstrates that her efforts paid off.
05:50What was going on inside the conservatorship?
05:53And why was she still in one if she was, quote, okay?
05:56There was financial incentives for Jamie, for the lawyer.
05:59While the documentary itself received polarized reviews,
06:02particularly with regard to its approach,
06:05its focus on exposing Spears' conservatorship as inhumane was the subject of praise.
06:10Writing for IndieWire, Kristen Lopez lauded Britney versus Spears as, quote,
06:15feeling like a movie not searching for scandal, but a genuine desire to help,
06:19to say something to Spears, to remind us why we love her and how we failed her.
06:24Britney made other people a lot of money.
06:27I've worked my whole life.
06:29I don't owe these people anything.
06:32Number 5.
06:33Depp v. Heard
06:34Please tell the jury why you're here today.
06:36Ms. Heard accused me of abuse.
06:39My ex-husband is suing me.
06:42Brutal, cruel.
06:43The media circus surrounding this acrimonious celeb divorce between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
06:49birthed this British mini-documentary series.
06:51Produced for the UK's Channel 4 and distributed worldwide by Netflix,
06:56Depp v. Heard eschews the interviews and talking heads normally associated with documentary,
07:01and instead opts for a bird's eye view account of the events leading up to,
07:06during, and following the competing defamation trials of Depp and Heard.
07:10This is humiliating for any human being to go through.
07:14And all false.
07:16Depp v. Heard ultimately received mixed to negative reviews,
07:20but proves rewarding for those seeking to learn more about the case,
07:24as well as those who need their fix of juicy celeb drama.
07:27A fair word of warning, its ugly moments can get really ugly.
07:31Amber Heard forever changed Mr. Depp's life and reputation.
07:36Behind the fame, you're gonna see who the real Johnny Depp is.
07:39Depp was the one who wanted the cameras in the courtroom.
07:42Number 4.
07:43Phoenix Rising
07:44It's always really hard for me to look at photos of myself from before.
07:50I've kept this journal since I was 15.
07:53Aired over the course of two March evenings in 2022,
07:57Phoenix Rising follows Evan Rachel Wood as she attempts to initiate legal reform
08:02surrounding domestic violence cases in California.
08:05Specifically, the documentary highlights Wood's efforts to get the Phoenix Act off the ground.
08:10The proposed bill would extend the statute of limitations afforded to those affected by assault.
08:16I'm here today to talk about Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson.
08:20He studied how to manipulate people.
08:25He groomed her.
08:27He's a predator.
08:28Wood unfortunately had firsthand experience that led to her activism.
08:32That would be her tumultuous relationship with now disgraced rock musician Marilyn Manson,
08:38whom she accused of several kinds of abuse.
08:41Phoenix Rising documents Wood's healing process as she comes to terms with the trauma and
08:45hardships she faced while involved with Manson,
08:48while demonstrating how difficult that process can be.
08:52Numerous women heard my story and they knew exactly who it was.
08:56I realized that I wasn't the only one that this had happened to.
08:59You're not alone.
09:00I know, it's crazy.
09:02Number 3.
09:03Alan V. Farrow
09:04This is the story of two of the biggest stars in the world.
09:07The father is Woody Allen, writer, director, actor.
09:10The mother is Mia Farrow, his co-star and mother of his three children.
09:14As you might have pieced together by now,
09:16the early 2020s were marked by a flood of documentary films and series
09:21that highlighted serial abusers and efforts to have them apprehended and brought to justice.
09:26My family was really close.
09:28It was an amazing childhood.
09:31But no matter what you think you know, it's just the tip of the iceberg.
09:36Likely the result of public interest in the Me Too movement that emerged in 2017,
09:40Alan V. Farrow examines one of the most notoriously poured over celebrity scandals
09:45in recent memory, that of Woody Allen's alleged assault on Dylan Farrow, his adopted daughter.
09:51Controversial from the get-go, the much maligned filmmaker declined to participate
09:56in the making of Alan V. Farrow, adding yet another layer of intrigue to a sordid years-long scandal.
10:02Woody Allen is one of the most prominent American directors.
10:06He was such a cultural figure.
10:08Woody Allen, me and Farrow, that's the ideal power couple.
10:12Number 2. Leaving Neverland
10:14Everybody wanted to meet Michael or be with Michael.
10:19And then he likes you.
10:20King of Pop Michael Jackson's stunning fall from grace in the early 1990s
10:25will surely be studied for decades.
10:27The world of the uber-talented multi-hyphenate was rocked by scandal
10:31when he was accused of inappropriate relations with young boys,
10:35a mark on his squeaky clean public image that haunted Jackson for the rest of his life
10:40until his untimely 2009 passing.
10:43I was seven years old.
10:44Michael asked, do you and the family want to come to Neverland?
10:48Leaving Neverland specifically chronicles claims of abuse touted by Wade Robson and
10:53James Safechuck, who both allege that the Billie Jean singer took advantage of them,
10:58leading to lifelong trauma.
11:00The documentary was subject to heavy backlash at the time of its release.
11:04This ranged from protests by Jackson's fans to legal action against HBO for airing it.
11:11Watch it and decide for yourself.
11:13Hello, Wade. Today is your birthday, so congratulations. I love you. Goodbye.
11:20Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:25Pretty Baby, Brooke Shields
11:27Shields opens up about surviving Hollywood as a child star.
11:30How do you feel about all this fuss that's being made over you?
11:33I think it's kind of fun.
11:34You really are an exquisite looking young lady.
11:36I know you've been told that, but isn't she a pretty, pretty girl?
11:39Kid 90, Punky Brewster star Soleil Moon Frye unveils her heart-rending home movies.
11:45I'm not in a good mood.
11:47Good, this is what I want on tape.
11:49Soleil not smiling for once, like the whole world thinks she always is.
11:53Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck
11:56The inner turmoil of the legendary Nirvana frontman expressed in his own words.
12:01His goal was to write as well as he could,
12:03play as well as he could.
12:04That's all in the music, man.
12:06It was awe-inspiring, but it was like, oh, you know, I guess I'm not all that special.
12:10Jim and Andy, The Great Beyond
12:13Jim Carrey went to almost career-ending lengths to embody Andy Kaufman.
12:18When I heard I had the part, I was looking at the ocean,
12:21and that's the moment when Andy came back to make his movie.
12:25Hello.
12:26Selena Gomez, My Mind and Me
12:28A raw, unfiltered look into what it means to be extremely famous.
12:33Just be who you are, Selena.
12:37No one cares about what you're doing.
12:40It's about who I am.
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12:58Number 1.
12:59Surviving R. Kelly
13:00Robert said, don't believe everything you hear.
13:04R. Kelly has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault.
13:08Possibly the most impactful documentary on our list,
13:12this Lifetime series is credited with almost single-handedly
13:15ending R&B star Kelly's 30-year recording career.
13:19And that's not without good reason.
13:21The singer was charged with and subsequently arrested
13:24on federal racketeering and human trafficking charges.
13:28I have video of you.
13:30Come meet me.
13:32I finally got around to watching that documentary.
13:35It was a rehash of things they've known for years and everybody rejected it.
13:39Surviving R. Kelly reignited public interest in Kelly's scandal-ridden years in show business,
13:45leading to further legal investigations which eventually resulted in his conviction.
13:50Although its contents are harrowing,
13:52Surviving R. Kelly is a painfully effective reminder
13:55of the ways that systemic injustices persevere and fester.
13:59Black women have been talking about this story since 1991.
14:04Surviving R. Kelly accomplished making America listen to these stories.
14:08What's the most shocking celebrity documentary you've seen?
14:11Are there any we missed?
14:12Let us know in the comments.
14:14I know him as well as I can know him,
14:16but who do you know even when they're right in front of you?