Backfired – Listorati https://listorati.com Fascinating facts and lists, bizarre, wonderful, and fun Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:34:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://listorati.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/listorati-512x512-1.png Backfired – Listorati https://listorati.com 32 32 215494684 10 Controversial Advertising Campaigns That Backfired https://listorati.com/10-controversial-advertising-campaigns-that-backfired/ https://listorati.com/10-controversial-advertising-campaigns-that-backfired/#respond Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:34:15 +0000 https://listorati.com/10-controversial-advertising-campaigns-that-backfired/

In today’s fast-paced world of advertising, brands are constantly striving to create campaigns that will capture attention and go viral. However, the drive to be bold or innovative sometimes leads to massive blunders, with ads causing outrage instead of admiration.

These are more than just PR missteps—these campaigns generated global backlash, sparked debates about social issues, and forced brands to reevaluate their approaches. Here are ten contemporary advertising campaigns that backfired spectacularly.

Related: Ten Controversial News Stories Surrounding ChatGPT

10 Pepsi’s “Live for Now” Protest Ad (2017)

Pepsi’s 2017 “Live for Now” ad starring Kendall Jenner quickly became a prime example of how not to co-opt social movements for advertising purposes. The commercial showed Jenner abandoning a photoshoot to join a protest, where she eventually hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer, seemingly resolving the tension between the protestors and the authorities. The ad attempted to align the brand with activism but was widely condemned for trivializing serious social issues, particularly in light of the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.

The imagery of Jenner, a white supermodel, handing a soda to a police officer to diffuse a protest was viewed as tone-deaf, given the real-world struggles faced by marginalized communities in confrontations with law enforcement. Critics pointed out that the ad seemed to reduce the complex realities of protests to a superficial moment of corporate goodwill. Social media users flooded platforms with memes and criticism, forcing Pepsi to pull the ad within 24 hours of its release. The company issued an apology, but the controversy lingered, and the campaign became a lasting symbol of corporate misjudgment.[1]

9 Heineken’s “Sometimes, Lighter Is Better” (2018)

Heineken found itself at the center of a controversy in 2018 after releasing a commercial for its light beer featuring the tagline, “Sometimes, Lighter Is Better.” The ad showed a bartender sliding a Heineken Light past several people of color before it reached a lighter-skinned woman at the end of the bar. While the campaign was meant to promote the beer’s low-calorie content, the slogan and imagery sparked accusations of racism and insensitivity.

Many viewers, including prominent figures like Chance the Rapper, criticized the ad for its troubling racial connotations, interpreting the phrase “lighter is better” as implying a preference for lighter skin. Heineken responded by defending the ad, stating that the message was solely about the beer’s calories, but the backlash was too severe to ignore. The company eventually pulled the ad and issued an apology, but the damage to its reputation had already been done.[2]

8 Dolce & Gabbana’s Chinese Ad Campaign (2018)

Dolce & Gabbana’s 2018 ad campaign intended to celebrate the fusion of Italian and Chinese culture ahead of a Shanghai fashion show. The ads, however, sparked immediate backlash for their portrayal of a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks. The campaign was widely criticized for its racial stereotyping and cultural insensitivity, with many accusing the luxury brand of reducing Chinese culture to a caricature.

The situation escalated when alleged racist comments from co-founder Stefano Gabbana surfaced on social media, further inflaming public outrage. Chinese celebrities boycotted the brand, and Dolce & Gabbana’s highly anticipated runway show in Shanghai was canceled. Despite issuing an apology, the brand suffered significant reputational damage in China, a key market for luxury goods. Dolce & Gabbana continues to face challenges in rebuilding its image in the region.[3]

7 Peloton’s “The Gift That Gives Back” (2019)

Peloton, the luxury fitness company known for its exercise bikes, released a holiday ad in 2019 that ignited a firestorm of criticism. The ad featured a husband gifting his wife a Peloton bike for Christmas, and she then records her fitness journey throughout the year. While the commercial was intended to highlight personal transformation and empowerment, many viewers interpreted it as sexist and tone-deaf. The woman, who already appeared fit, was seen as pressured to maintain her physique for her husband’s approval.

Social media users were quick to lampoon the ad, creating memes that mocked its premise. Critics pointed out that the ad perpetuated unhealthy gender stereotypes, with some accusing Peloton of portraying the wife as anxious to meet her husband’s expectations. The backlash was so intense that Peloton’s stock dropped, and the company spent weeks managing the PR fallout. Despite defending its intentions, Peloton acknowledged that the ad did not resonate as expected.[4]

6 Gillette’s “The Best Men Can Be” (2019)

In early 2019, Gillette released an ad titled “The Best Men Can Be,” which tackled toxic masculinity and called on men to challenge behaviors like bullying, sexual harassment, and sexism. The ad, inspired by the #MeToo movement, featured men stepping in to stop negative behaviors and promoting positive male role models [LINK 5]. While the campaign was praised by some for addressing an important social issue, it also sparked significant backlash.

Critics accused Gillette of alienating its core audience by appearing to lecture men about their behavior. Some saw the ad as overly political and calls for boycotts quickly gained traction online, with detractors claiming that the ad unfairly generalized all men as complicit in toxic behavior. Despite the controversy, Gillette stood by the message. However, the polarizing response highlighted the risks brands face when wading into social and political issues.[5]

5 H&M’s “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” Hoodie (2018)

In 2018, H&M found itself embroiled in a major controversy after releasing an ad featuring a Black child wearing a hoodie that read “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” Given the historical use of “monkey” as a racial slur against Black people, the ad was widely condemned for its insensitivity. Social media erupted in outrage, with many accusing the brand of perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes.

Celebrities, including The Weeknd, severed ties with H&M in response to the ad, and calls for boycotts spread across the internet. The company quickly pulled the ad and issued a public apology, acknowledging that they had failed to consider the cultural implications of the imagery. Despite the swift response, the controversy raised important questions about the lack of diversity and cultural awareness in advertising.[6]

4 Nivea’s “White Is Purity” Campaign (2017)

In 2017, Nivea released an ad campaign in the Middle East that featured a white woman dressed in white clothing, accompanied by the slogan “White Is Purity.” The campaign was intended to promote the brand’s deodorant line, but the combination of imagery and messaging immediately sparked outrage online. Critics condemned the ad for promoting racist connotations and reinforcing outdated beauty standards.

Social media users were quick to point out the problematic implications of equating purity with whiteness, and the backlash spread rapidly. Nivea swiftly pulled the ad and issued an apology, stating that the campaign was not meant to offend. However, the controversy remained a stark reminder of how easily marketing campaigns can go wrong when they fail to account for cultural sensitivities.[7]

3 Gap’s “Love for All” Ad (2017)

Gap’s 2017 “Love for All” campaign was meant to celebrate diversity and inclusion, but one particular image in the campaign led to widespread criticism. The ad featured a group of children from different racial backgrounds, but viewers took issue with a white child resting their arm on the head of a Black child. Critics argued that the image reinforced racial stereotypes and depicted a troubling power dynamic.

The backlash was swift, with many accusing Gap of insensitivity and poor judgment. The company quickly removed the image from its platforms and issued an apology, explaining that the intention was to promote unity, not division. Despite the brand’s efforts to rectify the situation, the incident underscored the importance of thoughtful representation in advertising.[8]

2 Kendall Jenner’s “Fyre Festival” Promo (2017)

Kendall Jenner, along with other high-profile influencers, became embroiled in the infamous Fyre Festival scandal after promoting the event on Instagram. The festival, marketed as a luxurious music experience in the Bahamas, turned out to be a complete disaster, with attendees arriving to find poor conditions, inadequate food, and no performances. Jenner, who was reportedly paid $250,000 for a single Instagram post promoting the festival, faced significant backlash for endorsing an event that turned out to be a scam.

As the details of the festival’s failure emerged, Jenner and other influencers were criticized for their role in promoting the event without conducting proper due diligence. The backlash led to lawsuits against the festival’s organizers, and the controversy became a cautionary tale about the risks of influencer marketing.[9]

1 Burger King’s “Women Belong in the Kitchen” (2021)

On International Women’s Day 2021, Burger King UK launched a campaign that was intended to highlight the gender disparity in the culinary industry. The campaign’s headline, however, read “Women belong in the kitchen,” a provocative statement that immediately sparked outrage. While the tweet was intended to draw attention to the issue of gender inequality in the restaurant industry and promote scholarships for female chefs, many interpreted it as a sexist remark.

The backlash was swift and widespread, with social media users criticizing Burger King for using such a tone-deaf phrase, especially on a day meant to celebrate women’s achievements. Although the brand quickly deleted the tweet and issued an apology, the controversy overshadowed the campaign’s intended message of support for women in the culinary field.[10]

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10 Progressive Laws That Backfired Badly https://listorati.com/10-progressive-laws-that-backfired-badly/ https://listorati.com/10-progressive-laws-that-backfired-badly/#respond Sun, 17 Nov 2024 00:38:38 +0000 https://listorati.com/10-progressive-laws-that-backfired-badly/

Laws are passed to protect the environment or members of society. Curiously, these same supposedly progressive laws have sometimes backfired, hurting the very things or people they were supposed to protect.

This is obviously because every law has consequences. And unfortunately, it is often impossible to predict the intended and unintended effects of every law.

10 Thai Queen Drowns Because The Law Forbade Anybody From Touching Her

Nineteen-year-old Queen Sunandha Kumariratana was the queen consort and one of the three wives of King Chulalongkorn of Siam (now Thailand). In 1880, she drowned alongside her daughter after their boat capsized in Chao Phraya River. They could have been rescued but weren’t because the law forbade anybody from touching members of the royal family.

In May 1880, Queen Sunandha and her daughter were traveling to their summer palace, which was right across the Chao Phraya River. She and her daughter were put on a boat, which was tethered to another boat containing their guards and servants. The queen’s boat capsized after it was swept by strong currents.[1]

The guards and servants watched as the queen and princess struggled in the water. They could have helped but didn’t. Apparently, the law forbade anybody from touching the royals under the threat of death. Nobody wanted to risk their lives, so they just watched the pregnant queen drown.

There are also claims that superstition may have discouraged the guards and servants from helping the queen. Thais believed that saving a drowning person could anger the spirits in the water. Nevertheless, the heartbroken king sent the lead attendant at the scene to prison.

9 Vietnam Rat Control Attempt Ends Badly

In 1902, the city of Hanoi, Vietnam, had a serious rat problem. Thousands of rats were popping up around the city and infecting residents with the deadly bubonic plague. Officials soon discovered that the rats were coming from the 14.5-kilometer-long (9 mi) sewer system under the city.

In April 1902, the French-led Vietnamese government set up a task force to kill the rats in the sewers. In the first week, 7,985 rats were killed. By May, the men were slaughtering 4,000 rats a day. On May 30 alone, they exterminated 15,041 rats. By June, the team was killing 10,000 rats a day, and on June 21, they eliminated a record 20,112 rats.

However, the city was still overrun with rats despite the mass killings. So the government asked regular civilians to destroy rats in exchange for money. The government paid one cent per rat killed. Officials did not want people bringing decomposing rats to their offices, so they just asked for the tails as evidence.

The scheme seemed to be working until the government realized that the city was filled with tailless rats. It quickly became obvious that people were cutting off the rats’ tails so that the rodents could continue to breed.

If that wasn’t enough, some enterprising citizens were importing rats from outside the city and selling the tails to the government. Some farmers even created rat farms where they bred rats and sold the tails to the government. Officials canceled the program.[2]

8 Prohibition Led To The Rise Of Criminal Gangs And Unregulated Alcohol

On January 18, 1920, the US government banned the sale of alcoholic drinks within its territory. This period is remembered today as Prohibition. However, it was unsuccessful because the alcohol market went underground. If that was not enough, it also led to the rise of American criminal gangs.

These underground bars are called speakeasies and were fully controlled by criminal gangs. This included the infamous Al Capone, who supposedly made over $100 million each year from his casinos and illegal alcohol business.

Several criminal gangs realized that there would be a lucrative black market for alcohol once Prohibition began. So they stockpiled alcohol and opened shop the moment that Prohibition started. They replenished their supplies by smuggling alcohol from Canada and Mexico and stealing medicinal alcohol supplies transported through the US.[3]

7 Plain Cigarette Packages Makes Smoking Cheaper For Smokers

The United Nations and the World Health Organization encouraged member states to make cigarette manufacturers adopt a plain cigarette pack in an attempt to discourage smoking. Australia, France, and the UK have passed laws to make cigarette packs plain. But it is not discouraging people from smoking.

As all the packages now look alike, smokers buy the cheapest cigarettes instead of preferred brands as they previously did. This means they spend less on cigarettes than they did when the packs were branded.

Australia noted that its smoking rate did not decline even after a tax hike. Instead, the country saw an increase in illegal cigarettes flowing in. The result was worse in France and the UK where the smoking rate increased after the introduction of plain packaging.[4]

6 Abstinence-Only Sex Education Increases Teenage Pregnancy

The US government spends a fortune on preventing teenage pregnancy. Since 1996, the federal government has spent $2.1 billion on abstinence-only sex education. According to a study, that money was flushed down the drain because abstinence-only sex education does not reduce teenage pregnancy.

According to the research, this type of sex education has no effect on teenage pregnancy in most states in the US. The results are worse in conservative states where teenage pregnancy is actually on the increase. At the same time, abstinence-only sex education failed to reduce STDs or delay the first time when teenagers have sex.[5]

5 China’s Attempt To Produce More Food Ends In Famine

In 1958, Chairman Mao Tse-tung launched the Four Pests Campaign to encourage Chinese citizens to kill animals and insects that were considered pests by the state. These animals were sparrows, rats, flies, and mosquitoes. Sparrows were regarded as pests because they often ate grain seeds.

Hundreds of millions of sparrows had been killed by 1960. But it would prove disastrous. While Chairman Mao was concerned with sparrows eating grain seeds, he did not realize that they also ate insects like locusts, which ate more grain seeds than sparrows. With the sparrows out of the way, the locusts freely bred and multiplied.

Locust swarms soon appeared across China, eating up every plant they could find. The result was a deadly famine that killed between 15 million and 78 million people. There were even reports of people turning to cannibalism to survive. A drought and a failed government farming policy worsened the famine, which was exacerbated when the government attempted to censor news about it.[6]

4 Conservation Attempt Ends In Destruction

Macquarie Island is located between Australia and Antarctica. Soon after its discovery in 1810, rats sneaked out of ships to colonize the island. A lack of predators saw the rodents breed so fast that sailors brought in cats to control the rat population.

Sixty years later, some sailors dropped some rabbits on the island so that other seamen who got shipwrecked could feed on the rabbits. The cats soon turned on the rabbits. However, the rabbits survived the feline onslaught and continued to multiply rapidly. The abundance of food also caused the cats to proliferate.

The cats soon added the native birds to their diet and hunted some to extinction. The rabbits also ate some native plants to extinction. In the 1970s, the deadly myxomatosis disease was introduced to the island to keep the rabbit population in check.

The disease reduced the rabbit population from an all-high of 130,000 to fewer than 20,000 in just 10 years. However, the rapid decline in rabbits also caused the cats to eat more birds. Conservationists started to shoot the cats, and the last one was killed in 2000.

With the cats gone, the rabbit population soared again. The rabbits ate so many plants that the island’s penguins went extinct. The rabbits had eaten 40 percent of the island’s vegetation as of 2009. As a result, the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service decided to rid the island of all invasive species including 130,000 rabbits, 103,000 mice, and 36,000 rats once and for all.[7]

3 Law To Help Ex-Convicts Become Employed Stops Them From Getting Jobs

Several US states have introduced ban-the-box laws to stop employers from asking prospective employees if they have been previously convicted of crimes. The laws are supposed to help ex-convicts find work, but they are quickly becoming a nightmare for black Americans.

According to a study, employers now guess whether prospective employees are ex-convicts through racial profiling. Considering that some employers believe that blacks are likelier to have been in prison, black job seekers have a lower probability of getting called for an interview than white applicants. This type of determination is often influenced by whether the applicant’s name sounds distinctly white or black.[8]

Before ban-the-box laws were passed in New Jersey and New York City, white job seekers were 7 percent likelier to be called for an interview than black prospects. The probability shot up to 45 percent in favor of whites after the laws were passed in these locations. Interestingly, this means that convicted white job seekers were likelier to get jobs than blacks who had never been to prison.

2 You Cannot Buy Smart Guns In The US Because Of A Progressive New Jersey Law

Smart guns (aka personalized guns) can only be unlocked and used by the owner. (Think of guns that could be unlocked with fingerprints, just like our phones.) They have been invented and would be a win for gun control if they are introduced into the US.

However, they have not been introduced—and probably never will be—due to the Childproof Handgun Law that was passed in New Jersey in 2002. The law requires New Jersey gun stores to sell only smart handguns 30 months after the first smart gun is available for sale in any state within the US.

Progun advocates say the law is an attempt at gun control and are lobbying hard to stop smart guns from getting into the US market. In 2014, a gun store in Maryland and another in California drew the ire of progun advocates after revealing plans to introduce smart guns in the US. The stores backtracked after their owners received death threats.

In 2016, New Jersey passed a bill to amend the law. According to the bill, gun stores would not need to carry a smart gun–only inventory although they would be required to have at least one smart gun model in their inventory. Then-Governor Chris Christie refused to sign the bill into law.[9]

1 The Creation Of The US Forest Service Led To More Devastating Wildfires

The US Forest Service was formed to prevent wildfires. Interestingly, its very existence is the reason that the US experiences devastating wildfires. Prior to the creation of the US Forest Service, small natural fires happened in the Southwest every five to 10 years on average. These fires often destroyed shrubs but left the bigger trees untouched.[10]

However, the US Forest Service prevents these small fires from burning freely. So plants that would have been destroyed in the smaller natural wildfires are spared. As a result, these smaller plants and trees become bigger and more numerous. Worse yet, they become fuel for larger natural or man-made wildfires.

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Top 10 Pieces Of Nazi German Propaganda That Backfired https://listorati.com/top-10-pieces-of-nazi-german-propaganda-that-backfired/ https://listorati.com/top-10-pieces-of-nazi-german-propaganda-that-backfired/#respond Wed, 12 Jul 2023 13:17:23 +0000 https://listorati.com/top-10-pieces-of-nazi-german-propaganda-that-backfired/

Joseph Goebbels was the mastermind behind Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine, and has been hailed as the inventor of marketing strategies that are still in use today, in addition to creating the idea of ‘fake news.’

However, once the Second World War broke out in 1939, problems in Goebbels’ propaganda paradise soon surfaced. Under the constant threat of invasion, and frequent allied bombings, the German public were not as willing to simply absorb Nazi values and principles. The pressure of war led to blunders in propaganda, along with the ever more eccentric ideas of Goebbels failing to hit the spot with the German population.

Although Hitler’s National Socialist Party was successful in altering the ideology of an entire country, not all of the Third Reich’s propagandist pursuits went to plan.

Top 10 Things The Nazis Got Right

10 Hitler’s perfect Aryan baby


In 1935, Joseph Goebbels, launched a campaign in search of the ‘perfect Aryan baby.’

On the contrary to all Aryan values however, Goebbels selected a brunette, brown-eyed baby that opposed much of the Aryan propaganda at the time.

The baby’s face was soon appearing in printed propaganda of every kind across the country. But no one was more shocked to see a baby’s face appear amongst the usually militaristic propaganda of Nazi Germany, than the baby’s parents themselves; Jacob and Pauline Levinson. Particularly when they knew that their daughter was Jewish.

A rebel artist named Hans Ballin, had recently taken the Levinson’s daughter’s picture in his Berlin studio. Ballin hated the Nazi regime, and submitted this photo of Hessy Taft, in the hopes that it would undermine Goebbels’ entire competition.

Whilst Ballin did succeed in humiliating the Nazi regime, the artist’s decision put the Levinsons in a lot of danger, and they ended up having to flee Latvia.[1]

9 Hitler’s Premier Example of a Full-Blooded Aryan Soldier


Werner Goldberg was a German who was of half Jewish ancestry, and appeared in posters across Nazi Germany as the ideal Wehrmacht Aryan soldier.

On December 1st 1938, Goldberg joined the German army and took part in the invasion of Poland in 1939. Shortly after the outbreak of war, Goldberg’s photograph appeared in the Berliner Tagesblatt Newspaper, with the caption “The Ideal German Soldier.” The photograph had been sold to the newspaper by the army’s photographer, and was later even used on recruitment posters.

Within less than a year, this ‘Ideal German Soldier’ would soon be banished from the army for which he had fought, after Hitler issued an order on April 8th, 1940, which stated that anyone with 1st degree Jewish ancestry must be expelled from the forces.

Not quite the ideal German soldier Goebbels had hoped for.[2]

8 The Far Too Successful Degenerate Art Gallery


Before the Nazis came to power in 1939, Germany was the centre of Modern Art. Dadaism and the Bauhaus Movement were becoming renowned across the globe, and artists were looking to Germany for inspiration.

However, when the Nazis came to power, the liberty of the German art scene was destroyed. The party could sense the public’s anger towards these restrictions, and concluded that they were simply misled. An art exhibition, entitled, ‘Entartete Kunst’ or ‘Degenerate Art’ was arranged in Munich, in order to showcase why modern art was dangerous and shameful.

Over 650 pieces of art were taken from German galleries and arranged chaotically. Explanations on why the pieces of art did not support the Nazi regime were displayed alongside the works. At the same time, the Nazis opened an art gallery entitled the ‘Great German Art Exhibition,’ which showcased Aryan-approved art only, in a bid to prove the superiority of this art form.

This plan backfired however, and five times as many people visited the ‘Degenerate Art’ gallery. In fact, it was so popular that in one day over 36,000 visitors attended.[3]

7 Radio Caledonia

Radio Caledonia’s sole aim was to turn the Scottish public against the British government, and was an arm of Goebbels’ Nazi propaganda machine.

Its broadcasts were written and hosted by Scottish fascist Donald Grant, who argued that a Hitler-Controlled Scotland was better than a Scotland ruled by an English Churchill.

Reception of Radio Caledonia in Britain was so poor however, that the station would frequently have lengthy periods of time off air. The Scots Independent actually openly denounced Radio Caledonia and regarded it as a risk, running a column which claimed that the radio station was not helpful to the cause of Scottish nationalism.

Radio Caledonia failed miserably, and ceased airing broadcasts in 1942.[4]

6 Life Goes on

By 1944 most of the German population were prepared for an inevitable defeat, and a sense of hopelessness gripped the nation.

Even with the end of the war in sight, Goebbels still naively believed that propaganda would distract the German public. After watching, Mrs Miniver, which depicted Londoners banding together against the Blitz bombing, Goebbels decided that Germany needed its own uplifting film.

This film would come in the form of Life Goes On and Goebbels regarded it as his pride and joy; hiring the Third Reich’s leading cast and crew.

Filming began in January 1945, as Allied troops were quite literally driving onto German soil. In fact, by the time shooting of the film started, most of the Berlin buildings and landmarks in the film had already been destroyed by Allied bombings. Goebbels was determined to complete the movie, and even diverted vital materials from re-building efforts to the production instead!

Eventually, the director was forced to shoot his film on the run as the approaching Red Army would continually attack locations where the cast had been filming just hours before.

With only days left before German surrender, the production was finally suspended. The reels of film have never been found, with some rumours stating that they were hidden in the ruins of a cathedral. Historians have tried to track any remnants of the footage, however all that remains of Goebbels’ final piece of propaganda are storyboards and newsreel footage of the production.[5]

Top 10 Plans Hitler Would Have Put In Motion If The Nazis Had Won

5 Jesse Owens- 1936 Berlin Olympics

The 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, were the first to be televised around the world. Hitler consequently seized this opportunity for worldwide Nazi notoriety and channelled funds towards constructing an enormous new stadium.

At the time, Jesse Owens, a black American athlete, was taking the athletics track by storm- matching the world record for the 100 yard dash whilst only still in High School! American decision makers were aware of Nazi Germany’s discriminatory policies against Jewish athletes and nearly boycotted the 1936 Olympic Games. However, the politicians were overruled by the American Olympic Committee and their attendance went ahead.

Owens in fact openly expressed his desire to attend the Olympic Games, regarding the politicians’ stance against Germany as one laced with hypocrisy. Growing up in a country which endorsed Jim Crow Laws and blatant discrimination- in the eyes of most black athletes, the politicians who were debating the boycott had no moral high ground to stand upon.

The games reached viewers in 41 countries, and much to Hitler’s dismay, it was a black American, Jesse Owens, who instantly became the star of the Summer Olympic Games. Winning four gold medals in track and field events; Owens became the first American to win 4 gold medals in a single Olympics.

Whilst Owens couldn’t single handily halt the rise of the Nazi regime, he did managed to undermine an entire nation’s ideology and steal the spotlight from one of history’s most fanatical leaders.[6]

4 William Shakespeare


By the end of the 19th Century, William Shakespeare became known in Germany as “our Shakespeare”, and in no other country on Earth were his plays performed more often. Shakespeare was thus a central pillar of Germany’s culture which could not simply be pushed aside by Nazification.

For the Nazis, theatre did not solely function as a political weapon; with Goebbels himself noting that “a good mood is an instrument of war…and even a factor in determining the outcome of war.” In May 1934 therefore, Goebbels introduced the Unified Theatre Law Act, which meant all theatres were officially under his control.

Nonetheless, a dynamic version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet made its way onto the Berlin state theatre stage, and entirely undermined the principles of heroism that Goebbels wanted all main characters to follow. The production consequently contained subversive messages, and yet was proclaimed by Goebbels himself as ‘a summit of German theatre,’ and was even used as a piece of propaganda in a state visit to Vienna. The director Jurgen Fehling took this one step further and openly undermined the Nazi regime’s tyrannical dictatorship through a production of Richard III. The character of Richard of Gloucester was given a limp that directly mimicked Goebbels and the costumes replicated the same style as SA troops. Unfortunately for Goebbels, this was one of the most popular theatre productions throughout the Third Reich.

Shakespeare would not be squeezed and manipulated into such a tight fitting, propagandist straitjacket. Although endless Theatre Laws could dictate a theatre’s reparatory, the Nazis could never gain ultimate control of a population’s imagination.[7]

3 The V-2

The V-2 rocket was the German army’s most advanced weapon of the Second World War. It was promoted widely as one of Hitler’s ‘revenge weapons,’ and paraded to the public as the weapon which would win Germany the war.

The V-2 was an enormous ballistic missile which carried a one ton warhead, it was rocketed to the edge of space before falling at supersonic speeds onto its unsuspecting target below. The weapon was used predominantly against London and Antwerp during the war, and there was no defence against it at the time.

Although the rocket’s development began before the war, it was not actually ready to be used until the Autumn of 1944- a time when arguably, Germany was already losing. Overall, the weapon inflicted very little damage in comparison to the huge sums of money that had been invested in its development. Only 3,000 V-2s were ever launched and it is believed that they killed a total of 9,000 people; a figure which was far lower than the number of slave workers who perished whilst building the missiles. Even more embarrassingly, the total quantity of explosives delivered by all of the V-2s ever launched, was far less than could be dropped by a single air raid from RAF Bomber Command.[8]

2 Ark Royal

H.M.S Ark Royal was an aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy that served during WW2, and was the first purpose built aircraft carrier.

Her reputation was enhanced when her crew successfully sunk the first German U-boat of the war, torpedoed the German Battleship Bismarck and successfully scuttled the German’s ‘Admiral Graf Spee’ – an embarrassing affair for the German Navy.

The Ark Royal soon became known as the ‘Lucky Ship’, narrowly avoiding two torpedoes which missed the ship’s stern by only a few 100 yards, surviving a U-boat attack and an attack from three Luftwaffe Dornier seaplanes.

The successful sinking of the Ark Royal was falsely reported on the German radio several times, with the British crew of the ship even choosing to listen in to the blatant propagandist lies as a form of entertainment. The sinking of the Ark Royal was so pivotal in Goebbels’ militaristic propaganda, that Lieutenant Adolf Francke who led the Luftwaffe attack on the ship and reported a successful sinking, was publicly decorated.

In reality, the bombing had broken nothing but the ship’s cutlery and Winston Churchill himself invited the US Naval Attache to view the Ark Royal in dock, in a bid to both reassure the Allied forces and embarrass the German Navy.[9]

1 Axis Sally

Mildred Elizabeth Gillars, nicknamed ‘Axis Sally’, was an American broadcaster employed by the Nazis to broadcast propaganda on the German state radio.

In 1942, Gillars was cast in a radio show called ‘Home Sweet Home’, whose sole aim was to make US forces feel homesick. Gillars’ key tactic was to discuss the potential infidelity of soldiers’ wives and girlfriends back home. Gillars also broadcast a show called ‘Midge at the Mike’ which brought American Jazz interrupted by defeatist propaganda across the radio waves of Europe. Most disturbingly however, was her show titled ‘GI’s Letterbox’ in which she broadcast information on captured or wounded American soldiers in order to worry families in America.

Nonetheless, this propaganda did not have the effect that Goebbels had intended, and instead many accounts by US Troops found Axis Sally very entertaining- even gaining fans amongst the forces. How else were the troops going to be able to listen to hot jazz in the midst of war?[10]

Top 10 Horrific Nazi Human Experiments

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10 Shakedowns That Backfired Big Time https://listorati.com/10-shakedowns-that-backfired-big-time/ https://listorati.com/10-shakedowns-that-backfired-big-time/#respond Tue, 04 Apr 2023 03:19:36 +0000 https://listorati.com/10-shakedowns-that-backfired-big-time/

Extortion not only sullies the reputations of the accused, but it also typically results in serious time behind bars and may include thousands of dollars in fines for the extortionists themselves. Such crimes frequently make the news, especially when their victims are as famous as the actors, models, producer, celebrity chef, late-night television host, and rock-and-roll star’s widow on this list. No doubt about it: shakedowns can, and do, backfire big time.

Related: Top 10 Pieces Of Nazi German Propaganda That Backfired

10 Driving Ms. Ono


It wasn’t enough that Yoko Ono’s chauffeur, Koral Karsan, of Amityville, New York, wanted $2 million of her money; he also felt it necessary to have hit men standing by to murder her, a prosecutor said. Karsan’s attempt to shakedown John Lennon’s widow backfired big time when he was arrested on December 13, 2006, for first-degree attempted grand larceny. The driver said that Ono had engineered his arrest to prevent his pursuit of a sexual harassment case.

Karsan claimed to possess “embarrassing recordings and photographs of Ono,” a New York Times article states, and, once he returned home to Turkey, he planned to publish statements about them in a book, distribute the recordings to “European broadcast stations,” and showcase the photos on a secure Iranian Internet site.

After he ruined her life and those of her children, Karsan told Ono’s lawyer, Jonas Herbsman, he would have Ono killed. Karsan had been in Ono’s employ for six years or more, and he received an annual salary between $150,000 and $200,000 from her. Apparently, he wanted more.

In 2007, the charge against Karsan was reduced to attempted grand larceny in the third degree, a felony to which he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to time served, which amounted to 60 days. He was released into immigration officials’ custody, his business visa having expired.

According to a “prepared statement,” Karsan admitted to having demanded $3,000, not $2 million, from Ono, which falls within the legal definition of third-degree grand larceny. In his statement, he admitted to “using hidden cameras to take pictures of Ms. Ono, and [to recording] Ms. Ono’s private conversations with her friends and family,” but, The New York Times reported, his statement expressed no “apology, regret, or remorse.”

He seemed to hint that he was motivated to do such harm to Ono because, as The New York Times observed, he claimed that she had “humiliated and degraded him, wrecking his marriage and making him so nervous that he ground eight of his teeth to the bone.” Although he suggested that he might share an account of his experiences, Karsan also signed a binding confidentiality agreement forbidding him from revealing such “details.”

9 “Terrible, Terrible Things”

In October 2019, late-night television talk show host David Letterman shared intimate details of his life with his audience, admitting to having participated in sexual relationships with women on his staff, to having written a phony $2 million check, and to having testified before a grand jury concerning these activities.

His awkward confession was set in motion by threats he had received in a package that included a letter advising him that its sender knew that he had done “terrible, terrible things.” Moreover, the sender threatened, “I can prove that you do these terrible things.”

However, “a large sum of money” would buy the sender’s silence, Letterman was assured. The package’s contents “contained . . . proof,” Letterman told his listeners, that the talk show host had, indeed, done “terrible, terrible things.” ABC News reporters Michael S. James and Lindsay Goldwert suggest that, if Letterman’s audience thought he was joking, they would soon learn that there would be no punchline to his monologue.

At the meeting at which Letterman handed off the fake check, his extortionist confessed that he intended to write Letterman’s biography as a “companion piece to the screenplay” that he also hoped to write; the book would include accounts of Letterman’s “infidelities.”

Letterman told his audience that the extortionist’s charges were true: the talk show host had, indeed, had multiple sexual encounters with women on his staff.

However, the shakedown didn’t go exactly as Letterman’s extortionist, Robert “Joe” Halderman, had hoped. Instead of $2 million in cash, a best-selling biography, and a hit movie, Halderman received six months in jail and was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service.

8 Cops and Robbers

Edis Kayalar wanted $100,000 for the photograph he had of Cindy Crawford’s 7-year-old daughter. It was not a picture, he must have figured, that the supermodel would want the public to see. After all, the gagged child was bound to a chair.

Taken by the girl’s nanny, the photo would fetch big money from tabloid newspapers, Kayalar, “a former friend of the nanny,” advised Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber, CBS News writer Kealan Oliver reports.

A German citizen who was in the United States illegally, Kayalar was arrested and deported to Germany. His close call, apparently, had not been close enough; two months later, Kayalar telephoned Crawford, demanding $100,000. His attempt at extortion backfired. Instead of receiving the money he was after, he was charged; the same month, he turned himself in to German authorities.

At his trial in March 2010, he insisted that he had never tried to extort any money from Crawford. The $100,000 he had requested was simply money with which he would “cover costs” he had incurred as a result of being a good Samaritan in trying to warn Crawford that her nanny was a bad influence on the model’s daughter.

The trial judge, Joachim Spieth did not buy the defendant’s defense. “The attempted extortion was at an advanced stage and failed,” Judge Spieth said, and Kayalar was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

The reason for the photo? The nanny took the picture “as a joke during a game of ‘cops and robbers,’” Oliver reports.

7 An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse

Thomas George Paculis, of Newfield, New York, tried to hit up Paula Deen for $200,000. Instead, in a plea deal with prosecutors, he received a 2-year federal prison sentence for extortion and a year of supervised release.

According to an Associated Press account that appeared on the USA Today website on August 2013, Paculis had “tried to make a deal”: he wanted a non-disclosure agreement after having “threatened to publicly reveal damaging information” about the celebrity chef.

Deen had already “lost major endorsements,” the article observes, due to her having allegedly discriminated against employees based on race. She wouldn’t want any more bad press, Paculis had probably reasoned. What had prompted Paculis’s failed extortion attempt? He had experienced “bad economic times,” he said.

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Brad Snider, Paculis e-mailed Deen’s attorney, Greg Hodges on June 27, with his demand for the money, after he had sent a June 24 e-mail message in which the extortionist had invited Hodges to “make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

Later, a Savannah Morning News article by Jan Skutch reports, during a conversation that was monitored by the FBI, Paculis agreed to take $200,000 in exchange for his silence. His arrest followed, on July 5. The newspaper states that, in addition to allegations of racial discrimination, Deen was being sued for sexual harassment, but “the [federal] case was dismissed with prejudice” in August 2013.

6 No Show


Extortionist David Hans Schmidt figured the stolen photos of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s nuptials were worth a cool million dollars. The pictures might even have gone for $1.3 million, he reckoned.

Authorities disagreed. For them, the stolen photos were worth a couple of years in prison for Schmidt. That’s what was on the table after Schmidt had agreed to plead guilty to extortion. He was under house arrest until October 11, 2007, when he was scheduled to appear in court to enter his guilty plea and accept the consequences of his actions.

Schmidt failed to show up, but he had a good reason for being a no show: apparently, he had committed suicide. The tracker he wore indicated that he had not left his home. When police arrived at his townhouse at about 3:00 pm., they found him dead.

Ironically, although he had agreed to a stretch in prison, Schmidt had also planned to ask for probation. Why he would kill himself before he learned whether his request would be granted is a mystery that Schmidt took to his grave.

5 Hijacked Claims

Michael Avenatti wanted $25 million from Nike; instead, his attempt to extort the company cost the “celebrity attorney” a prison sentence. The lawyer’s attorneys argued for leniency. They pointed out the facts that his extortion attempt hadn’t worked, that he was a non-violent offender, and that he had been held in solitary confinement for 24 hours a day in New York City’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, the same hellhole that had confined Joaquin (“El Chapo”) Guzman. U. S. District Judge Paul Gardephe was unpersuaded. On July 8, 2021, the judge sentenced the disgraced lawyer to 2.5 years in prison.

According to reporter Michael McCann, the charges against Avenatti resulted from Avenatti’s insistence that, in addition to paying his client, former American Athletic Union coach Gary Franklin, $1.5 million, Nike should also pay Avenatti “and a co-counsel as much as $25 million to investigate company [recruiting] activities” or simply pay the $25 million “outright.”

The company had terminated Franklin’s employment, and, McCann says, Franklin had hired Avenatti after becoming concerned “about his possible legal exposure from seeing bribes of top recruits to attend particular colleges.”

Judge Gardephe declared that, in hitting up Nike, Avenatti was “hijack[ing] his client’s claims . . . to further his own agenda, which was to extort millions of dollars from Nike for himself.” The Manhattan federal jury agreed, McCann observes, and “convicted Avenatti of trying to extort $25 million from Nike while “depriving . . . Franklin of a right to Avenatti’s honest services.”

4 Topless Shots

Before fame claimed her, Cameron Diaz posed topless. After she became famous, John Rutter, the photographer who had snapped the pictures of her, tried to claim $3.5 million from her for the risqué photos, the price he hoped they would fetch from an interested buyer. Instead, he was sentenced to up to 5 years in the slammer for his attempt at grand theft and for committing forgery and perjury. Upon Rutter’s July 2005 conviction, Judge Michael Pastor, who considered the photographer a flight risk, “sent him immediately to jail,” according to a Seattle Times article concerning the crimes and punishment.

Rutter said that Diaz had signed a “model release,” but expert witnesses refuted the defendant’s claim, saying that the photographer had forged Diaz’s signature with the help of a computer graphics program.

Although Rutter’s attorney blamed Diaz for his client’s situation, arguing that his trial had pitted “a rich and famous celebrity [against] a hard-working photographer,” prosecutor David Walgren declared, “We don’t . . . tolerate serious crimes like forgery [and] perjury . . . be it against a celebrity or anyone else.”

3 A Memoir as Good as a Deathbed Confession

He was heir to a fortune, but, when police and FBI agents stormed the New York City apartment in which he was being held captive, they found the kidnapped victim unshaven, foul-smelling, [and] bound and blindfolded,” states Alex Traub, a reporter for The Irish Times.

The authorities arrested the apartment’s tenant, firefighter Mel Patrick Lynch, and one of his accomplices, Dominic Byrne, both of whom confessed to having abducted the victim. They also explained how they had committed the crime, showing the authorities “two garbage bags containing a $2.3 million, or €1.95 million, ransom,” Traub says.

At their trial, Lynch and Byrne were convicted of extortion, but not of kidnapping. In July 2020, shortly before his death at age 91, Byrne’s attorney, Peter DeBlasio, published his memoir, Let Justice Be Done, in which he finally told the truth: his defense of his client had been based on a lie.

The kidnapping was really just a hoax, DeBlasio had argued at his client’s trial. The victim, Samuel Bronfman II, the heir to the Seagram’s distilling fortune, had only pretended to have been kidnapped by Lynch and Byrne. The so-called kidnappers had intended only to shake down Bronfman’s family for money; it had been Bronfman’s own idea to “stage his own kidnapping.”

Reluctant to go along with the fraudulent abduction, Lynch was pressured into doing so when Bronfman threatened to tell the fire department that Lynch was a homosexual. In reality, this claim was as false as the allegation that Bronfman had masterminded his own kidnapping. Nevertheless, the jury had believed the defense and found Byrne and Lynch guilty only of extortion.

Forty-five years later, with DeBlasio’s publication of his memoir, the truth was finally established: “I want it to be clear to all who . . . read these pages that Samuel Bronfman was not a part of the kidnapping,” DeBlasio wrote. “Neither he nor Lynch were gay as far as anyone ever knew and certainly they were not lovers.”

Ironically, as Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, points out, DeBlasio’s confession was a breach of legal ethics, intended not so much to set the record straight, perhaps, as to clear the lawyer’s own conscience. DeBlasio’s “obligation to his client continues forever, even after his client’s death,” Gillers declares, so DeBlasio’s saying that “’My client, who was acquitted of kidnapping, is really a kidnapper’ [is] exactly what he’s not allowed to say.”

Despite what amounts to DeBlasio’s “deathbed confession” (he died a few months after his memoir’s publication), Bronfman’s reputation never truly recovered. “It poisoned the atmosphere forever for Sam,” says the case’s prosecutor Geoffrey Orlando. “He will forever be tagged with that allegation.”

2 Compromising Photos


Add actor John Stamos to the growing list of celebrities who have been shakedown victims. In October, five years after they had become friends during Stamos’s visit to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in 2004, and they had attended a party together, Allison Lenore Coss sent the actor a series of e-mails, advising him that a man calling himself “Brian” had obtained “compromising photos of them,” the FBI website reports.

Stamos was suspicious, since “nothing untoward [had] happened at the party.” Coss not only insisted that she herself had seen the pictures, but claimed that she had acquired one herself, for $10,000. However, she never sent Stamos a copy of it.

A month later, the plot thickened, as “Brian L.” himself began to e-mail Stamos. He demanded $680,000, to be paid in unmarked bills and dropped off at a “clandestine” point. Stamos contacted the FBI, one of whose agents began to communicate with “Brian L.” The extortionist encouraged the money drop-off at a location at which he was already present. Both Coss and “Brian L.” were arrested on the spot, while “Brian L.” was still on the telephone with the FBI.

An examination of the defendants’ computers and e-mail accounts left no doubt that “Brian L.,” who turned out to be Scott Edward Sippola, and Coss were the authors of all of the e-mails “Brian L.” had sent to Stamos. Neither The National Enquirer nor The Star Magazine had offered to buy, or had even seen, the “compromising photos” that Sippola and Coss claimed to have tried to sell the publications’ reporters. Likewise, neither defendant ever showed either Stamos himself or FBI agents any of the photographs they claimed to possess, presumably because no such pictures existed.

During the conduct of the investigation, FBI agents discovered that Coss and Sippola had previously tried to extort money from Stamos. In the earlier attempt, Coss and Sippola, posing as “Jessica T.,” claimed to be pregnant by Stamos and said they had “compromising photos of him.” At trial, the defendants admitted that these claims were false. As a result of their convictions, Coss and Sippola each received four-year prison sentences.

1 High Rollers


Universally condemned, the disgraced former movie producer and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein was victimized by extortionist Vivek Shah, who also preyed on other high rollers.

An actor, Shah had had bit parts as a bank hostage in The Dark Knight (2008) and as the maitre ‘d in Our Family Wedding (2010). He supplemented his acting career with his second job as an attempted extortionist, Besides Weinstein, Shah targeted Relativity Media’s CEO Ryan Kavanagh; coal industry millionaire Chris Cline; Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky; Playtone owner Gary Goetzman; oil heiress Dannine Avara; and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula.

Shah planned to collect $120 million in liquid funds. According to West Virginia Metro News, he also had a secondary goal: he hoped that his “crime spree might bring some attention to his stagnating acting career.” His modus operandi was as simple as it was heinous: he mailed threats to kill the spouses and children of his victims if his demands were not met.

He demanded various amounts of payments from his victims. From Weinstein, he expected $4 million, but $16 million from Lefkofsky. According to the FBI, Shah also set up an elaborate system to conceal his ill-gotten money. “He fraudulently opened financial accounts in his victims’ names . . . . [and] made purchases using prepaid debit cards that he registered under aliases.” He avoided “being traced when he committed criminal acts using his computer . . . . [and he] created numerous accounts with the U. S. Postal Service under false names.”

His criminal career caught up with him when FBI agents arrested him in Schaumberg, IL, on August 10, 2012, and his dreams of wealth ended, when, as the FBI states, he was “sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison for orchestrating [his] multi-million-dollar extortion scheme.”

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10 Blackmail Attempts That Totally Backfired https://listorati.com/10-blackmail-attempts-that-totally-backfired/ https://listorati.com/10-blackmail-attempts-that-totally-backfired/#respond Thu, 09 Mar 2023 12:40:19 +0000 https://listorati.com/10-blackmail-attempts-that-totally-backfired/

Blackmail is about as old as secrets. The idea of someone using secret information to coerce another into doing what they want exists in all cultures throughout all time. It’s typically frowned upon and certainly considered a crime, but the blackmailer does need to get caught and, often, the victim wants to keep everything on the down low too, which is what makes it so attractive. The thing to remember is that blackmail only works if no one finds out. Sometimes it can backfire spectacularly.

10. The KGB Tried to Blackmail the President of Indonesia with a Sex Tape

One of the most popular sources of blackmail is a person’s sexual history. Individuals and even governments have weaponized sex against enemies for ages. In the case of Indonesian President Sukarno, the KGB thought they had the man over a barrel when they arranged for him to meet up with flight attendants during a visit to Moscow in the 1960s. They had his room bugged and apparently filmed his liaisons.

Sukarno was the first President of the country after it left Dutch control. But it offered a lot of strategic advantages to countries like the Soviet Union and America in the region. The Soviets thought filming him with a flight attendant and releasing it would discredit him and cause him to lose his position unless he bowed to their will. Legend has it he was quite tickled to find out they’d filmed him and asked for a copy of the tape

The CIA tried to do something similar, incidentally. They sought a lookalike to make some pornographic films and, when they failed, they had a mask created in his likeness for someone else to wear. The movie was apparently called “Happy Days” though no one knows what happened to it.

9. Soviets Attempted to Out a Reporter as Gay

Joseph Alsop was one of the most famous reporters in the country during the height of the Cold War. He was a man in the know and he had the ear of major politicians, including even the President. He worked with the CIA to gather intelligence using his job as cover, and his columns were read by millions.

The Soviet government was not a fan of Alsop, and as a covert agent of the CIA, you can imagine why. They seized on an opportunity for blackmail when he came to Moscow, thanks to rumors of Alsop’s sexuality. 

At a time when being gay could end a career, Alsop kept his own sexuality under wraps. The KGB set up the reporter with a man in a Moscow hotel room and then secretly photographed them together. Their intent was to blackmail him into becoming a spy for them. Things didn’t go as planned.

Rather than doing what they demanded, Alsop asked if he could get copies of the photos. He then provided a detailed sexual history to the CIA, which included the Moscow encounter, robbing the Soviets of any ammunition they may have thought they had. Word of the incident made it to J. Edgar Hoover and then the President. But even as those in certain circles came into the know, no one weaponized the knowledge and Alsop’s career was not damaged. In fact, years later, someone would release the photos, but the media sources they sent them to refused to publish them.

8. Scientology Tried to Blackmail Trey Parker and Matt Stone 

The Church of Scientology has been steeped in controversy for decades. Things in the present aren’t much better and the church finds itself the butt of numerous jokes, with few more brutal than those made on the show South Park.

In 2005, South Park aired an episode entitled Trapped in the Closet that took serious digs at Scientology and its beliefs. The church, notoriously protective, aggressive and litigious, did not take this well. They hired investigators to look into South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in the hopes of finding dirt on the two men that could be used for blackmail. This included doing records checks and even sorting through their trash

The church denied ever engaging in such behavior, but a leaked memo stated otherwise. However, it seemed as though there was no information to turn up and all they determined were useless details like what catering service they used and the kinds of cars they drove.

7. The FBI Tried to Blackmail MLK into Killing Himself 

The FBI devoted years to trying to bring down Martin Luther King Jr. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was apparently deathly afraid that MLK would join up with the Communist party, so they wanted to strike first and bring the man down through any means necessary. That included trying to make him kill himself. 

King was put under surveillance and while no ties to Communism were found, they did find evidence that he had been having extramarital affairs. Hoover decided to use that information, along with tapes, to try to blackmail King a year after his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

An anonymous letter was sent to King along with the tapes. The letter repeatedly insults him, calling him a fraud and abnormal and an animal. The writer threatened to give the tapes to the churches and the public at large. They went on to say, “there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is.” King took it to mean they wanted him to take his own life. 

King quickly deduced that the FBI was behind the letter and, obviously, he didn’t fall for the ploy. Instead, he went on to secure his legacy as one of the greatest civil rights leaders of all time. 

6. The Nestle Pigeon Blackmailer

Tampering with food is an insidious crime that can cause mass panic. We expect the things we eat to be safe, and there’s no rhyme or reason to someone poisoning food at random on store shelves, so it can leave even the best of us shaken. In 1999, a man tried to blackmail Nestle after lacing products like mayonnaise and mustard with cyanide. He threatened to do more unless the company paid him off with $14 million US worth of diamonds. 

The plan was for Nestle to put the diamonds in little bags around the necks of homing pigeons that would return the loot to him. Instead, police just put a tracking device on the pigeon and followed it to the man’s home, where he was arrested. He got 11 years in prison for his troubles.

5. Jaromir Jagr’s Model Blackmail

The one thing necessary for any blackmail plot to work is the victim giving a damn. That just wasn’t the case with the model who tried to blackmail hockey player Jaromir Jagr after taking a selfie in bed with him.

Jagr, who was 43 at the time, was asleep when the 18-year-old model he was in bed with snapped the pic. It’s unclear whether the model herself or someone else tried to use the photo to extort $2,000 from Jagr. The problem was that Jagr was a single man sleeping with an adult woman. He didn’t care if anyone saw the picture. He told the blackmailer to do whatever they wanted. The photo was released and no one, Jagr included, cared at all.

The only consequence of the whole debacle seemed to be that the model, who was dating a junior hockey player at the time, got dumped by her boyfriend. Apparently Jagr was one of his hockey idols and he was less than amused. 

4. The Staged Illicit Photo of George Ratterman To Get Him Out of An Election

Former pro football player George Ratterman was running for Sheriff of Campbell County, Kentucky, back in 1961. The local mob was not amused by this and didn’t want him in the position which, historically, had been tied to corruption. A new, law-abiding sheriff would be bad news. 

Ratterman’s family was getting threatening phone calls and then, in May 1961, he was kidnapped and drugged. Once unconscious, he was photographed in bed with a stripper named April Flowers. The plan was to blackmail him into dropping out. Instead, the entire plot was exposed and rather than causing him to lose support, it skyrocketed him to the head of the race and won him the election

3. The Failed John Stamos Blackmail 

Next to politicians, celebrities are the likeliest targets of blackmail. They are often wealthy and they have a public persona they typically want to preserve. Someone like John Stamos, for instance, would want to maintain his image of a charming, handsome, but mostly harmless man. In 2010, a couple threatened to blackmail him with photos showing Stamos naked with an underage girl and doing drugs. That would have surely ruined his career.

Rather than pay the $680,000 they demanded, Stamos went to the police. He said there were no photos, and it was all lies. The FBI raided the home of the blackmailers and, wouldn’t you know it, there were no pictures. The couple claimed they did exist and implied the FBI stole them for some reason. In any event, the couple were sentenced to four years in jail. 

2. A Merchant tried to Blackmail Constance Kopp, Which Led to Her Becoming the First Female Sheriff in America

Constance Kopp was not a woman with whom to trifle. In July 1914, silk merchant Henry Kaufman ran his car into Kopp’s buggy. He caused damage to it but refused to pay, and Kopp was not about to let that happen. She sued him and then began to receive threatening letters. Cronies of Kaufman demanded money from her and threatened to kidnap her teenage sister and sell her into white slavery. Another letter demanded $1,000 or their house would be burned down. 

With the help of the local Sheriff, Kopp was able to implicate Kaufman and his underlings. The Sheriff was so impressed with her resolve, he appointed her Under Sheriff, a job no woman had held previously. 

1. Chevalier D’Eon Tried to Blackmail the King of France and Was Exiled

Few figures in history lived a life anywhere near as interesting as the Chevalier d’Eon. For 49 years, the Chevalier lived as a man and worked in service of the King of France as a diplomat and a spy. Then, for the next 33 years, she lived as a woman. If that sounds a little confusing, it’s because it is.

D’Eon was sent to the British court after the Seven Years War under the guise of being an ambassador but really to spy for King Louis XV. Unfortunately, d’Eon was living large and ended up getting fired for wasting money. Fearing the Bastille, he threatened to spill all the secrets he’d learned in his time as a French spy. 

The British embraced d’Eon openly and the French King paid him off to stay quiet. But he was exiled and could never return home. Years passed and when the King died, his son wanted all documents d’Eon had in return for him being allowed to return home. And d’Eon would then be recognized as a woman. The story was that d’Eon was born a woman and forced to live as a man and soon it was embraced by all. D’Eon went on to become a celebrated member of French society until the American Revolution, when she wanted to work as a soldier again. The idea was not received well for women were not soldiers. She was told to join a convent. Any political influence she’d once had was all but gone entirely. Eventually, they tossed her in jail. The switch had backfired on her this time. 

D’Eon returned to England and eventually lost her pension. She died poor at the age of 81, sharing an apartment with another elderly lady.

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