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Muhammad Ali was the greatest celebrity ever ... What a celebrity! What a fighter! George Foreman
The 1990s saw the advent of a new obsession with celebrity. 90s Greatest: Tragedies, National Geographic 2014
Celebrity and secrets don’t go together. The bastards will get you in the end. George Michael
When once a man has made celebrity necessary to his happiness, he has put it in the power of the weakest and most timorous malignity, if not to take away his satisfaction, at least to withhold it. His enemies may indulge their pride by airy negligence and gratify their malice by quiet neutrality. Samuel Johnson
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognised. Fred Allen, 1894-1956
A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn’t know. H L Mencken, US editor, 1880-1956
Michael Jackson: The now infamous baby-dangling incident took place in Germany in 2002. Celebrity Scandals that Shocked Britain
To sleeping in an oxygen tent to having questionable friendships with monkeys, Michael Jackson was no stranger to controversy. ibid.
A second set of child abuse charges were levelled at the singer. ibid.
Rumour had it that at a party at Nelson Mandela’s house in 1997 [Naomi] Campbell had been given the gift of a large uncut diamond. Her testimony was important. ibid.
Jade’s [Goody] celebrity housemates were a glittering crowd. ibid.
Jade accepted an invitation on to India’s Big Boss. ibid.
During the nine month trial Simpson’s high profile defence team were able to persuade the jurors that there was reasonable doubt about the DNA evidence, and also allege misconduct at a Los Angeles police department. ibid.
The Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross prank telephone call row referred to in the press as Saxgate began on 18th October ... The Beeb chose not to stand by its broadcasters. ibid.
In 2003 footballing legend David Beckham left Manchester behind for the sunnier climes of Madrid. But by April 2004 he was back on the front pages of the British press when the News of the World carried claims by his former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that she and Becks had engaged in an extra-marital affair. ibid.
On June 27th 1995, with his girlfriend Liz on the other side of the world, Hugh [Grant] decided to go for a midnight drive. ibid.
Tiger Woods knows how to swing. ibid.
On January 17th 1998 the Drudge Report website alleged that President Clinton had been engaged in a sexual relationship with then 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. ibid.
The future of the presidency would rest on some rather dubious semantics. ibid.
In her lifetime she sold more than two hundred million records ... February 11th 2012 Whitney Houston was found unconscious in a bath in a Hollywood hotel. Autopsy: Whitney Houston’s Last Hours, Channel 5 2014
She was no stranger to weed ... That’s just the tip of the iceberg ... Whitney Houston had a chronic problem with cocaine ... crack ... The singer had relapsed into addiction. ibid.
At 2.49 p.m. February 8th 2007 Anna Nicole Smith – Playboy cover girl, fashion model, and tabloid target – is pronounced dead in Florida. A small-town girl, she modelled her rise to fame on Marilyn Monroe. Autopsy: Anna Nicole Smith’s Last Hours
In 1994 the paparazzi turned against her – they exposed a near fatal overdose. ibid.
She married 89-year-old oil billionaire J Howard Marshall. She was labelled the ultimate gold-digger. ibid.
Since arriving in Florida, Anna is burning up with a high fever. ibid.
Anna’s twin implants were a step too far. ibid.
Benzodiazepines – by the time of her death she was taking them in massive quantities. ibid.
The sedative chloral-hydrate ... Anna was an expert self-injector. ibid.
Brittany is suffering from a virus which has given her a nasty cough. Autopsy: Brittany Murphy
The autopsy shows Hydrocodone was not the only serious drug that she got hold of before she died. ibid.
In five months’ time, her husband Simon Monjack would also die from the same symptoms. ibid.
2.26 p.m. on June 25th 2009: Michael Jackson ... is pronounced dead in Los Angeles. Jackson is just fifty years old ... A police investigation that questions every detail of his passing. Autopsy: Michael Jackson
Jackson spent large amounts of money on a skin-bleaching drug called Benoquin. ibid.
Jackson would become addicted to plastic surgery. ibid.
‘Jackson's hair is not his own.’ ibid.
He became hooked on painkillers ... and even morphine. ibid.
Demerol isn’t what killed Michael Jackson. ibid.
Karen’s homely voice captivated 1970s America. Autopsy: Karen Carpenter
Emetine can affect the heart. ibid.
According to friends Karen was taking eighty to ninety Dulcolax a day. ibid.
Karen was taking large amounts of ... Synthroid. ibid.
On August 11th 2014 Robin Williams was found dead in a bedroom of his home. Autopsy: Robin Williams
His moods had been controlled by a variety of prescription drugs. ibid.
Robin Williams lived with Parkinson’s Disease for many years. ibid.
Robin Williams was suffering from undiagnosed dementia. ibid.
Marilyn was found dead in the bedroom of her Hollywood home. Autopsy: Marilyn Monroe
There were eight different types of drugs around her when she died. ibid.
Nembutal ... Marilyn was already being prescribed chloral-hydrate for her sleeplessness ... Nembutal on top of chloral-hydrate was like signing her death warrant. ibid.
June 17th 1994: O J Simpson is on the run from police in one of the most famous car chases in history, wanted for murder. Autopsy: O J Simpson Murder
The trial of the century: O J was acquitted. ibid.
Her head was almost completely severed. ibid.
Elvis was not a well man ... Most of his organs were about twice the size they should have been. Autopsy: Elvis Presley
What causes the arrhythmia? ibid.
By the time he got into his forties Elvis was showing clear signs of physical and mental decline. ibid.
Could the abuse of prescription drugs have led to the death of the king of rock-n-roll? ibid.
Demerol has not played a direct part in Elvis’s death. ibid.