When caught at the airport with a “rent boy”—a young man who listed his services on the aptly named Rentboy.com—a founder of the ultra-conservative Family Research Council said his companion was there to act as a personal sky cap. “Contrary to Internet stories,” Baptist minister George Alan Rekers said in a statement, Rekers “requires an assistant to lift his luggage in his travels because of an ongoing condition following surgery.” Rekers claimed that he “was not involved in any illegal or sexual behavior with his travel assistant” during their 10-day trip to Spain. Never mind the fact that when photographed at the airport together, Rekers was the one carrying luggage. Or that the rent boy, who has gone by “Lucien” in the press, told the Miami New Times that Rekers liked naked rubdowns. Rekers, who has been an anti-gay activist for decades, continues to try to spin the nature of their getaway.
Haggard was one of the country’s most powerful evangelical pastors when word broke of his multi-year relationship with prostitute Mike Jones. Initially, the head of the National Association of Evangelicals said nothing happened between the two of them—except a massage and the purchase of methamphetamines. Jones eventually wrote a book—I Had To Say Something—which discussed the sexual nature of their relationship.
David Zalubowski / AP Photo; Ed Andrieski / AP Photo
On Santa Monica Boulevard at four in the morning, Murphy stopped to give Atison Ken Seiuli a ride home. At least that was the story the comedian told police in 1997. Murphy said he was out before dawn looking for a newspaper and came upon Seiuli, a cross-dressing prostitute, who he took for a “beautiful Hawaiian-looking woman.” Helping out sex workers is just part of a day’s work, Murphy said at the time: “I was being a good Samaritan. It’s not the first hooker I’ve helped out. I’ve seen hookers on corners…and I’ll pull over…and they’ll go, ‘Oh you’re Eddie Murphy, oh my God,’ and I’ll empty my wallet out to help.”
Peter Kramer / AP Photo
In 2007, prominent John McCain supporter and Florida lawmaker Allen said his offer of $20 to an undercover police officer in the men’s room of a park was all a big misunderstanding. “It is not true. It is inaccurate and therefore, it’s not guilty,” Allen said about charges for soliciting prostitution. What was the big mix up? Allen thought he was going to get beat up and was just playing along with the man’s offer to save his skin, he told police. “This was a pretty stocky black guy,” Allen said, “and there were a lot of other black guys around in the park, and, you know…” Allen told the police he was wary he “was about to be a statistic.” Allen was convicted of soliciting oral sex and sentenced to six months of probation. His most recent appeal of the conviction was denied.
Steve Cannon / AP Photo
Testifying in the 1995 trial against Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss, bad boy actor Sheen seemed a little embarrassed by the amount of money he’d spent on prostitutes. "Sheeesh," Sheen said at one point, as gazed at canceled checks. "It's starting to add up." In total, Sheen dropped $50,000 on services provided by Fleiss’s harem. Sheen’s lady troubles have been in the headlines ever since.
Chris Pizzello / AP Photo; Reuters
Ted Haggard wasn’t the first televangelist felled by a prostitution scandal. Back in 1991, Swaggart was caught with a 31-year-old prostitute Rosemary Garcia by police in California. A few years earlier, Swaggart had resigned from his ministry when a rival minister released photos of him with another New Orleans pro. Swaggart’s message to supporters: "The Lord told me it's flat none of your business.” Sen. David Vitter, the family values lawmaker from Louisiana who was caught up in the D.C. Madam scandal, took a similar—if less righteous—tack when telling reporters to butt out in 2007. "I'm not going to answer endless questions about it all over again and again and again and again. That might sell newspapers but it wouldn't serve my family or my constituents well at all," Vitter said. He continues to serve in the Senate and is facing reelection this fall. The prostitution scandal doesn’t seem to have hurt his chances.
Mark Avery / AP Photo; Susan Walsh / AP Photo
British heartthrob Hugh Grant was nabbed by L.A.’s vice squad in 1995, caught in the middle of a tryst with a prostitute who went by the name Divine Brown. Grant saved his career, and Jay Leno’s, by going on Tonight Show and declaring, "I think you know in life what's a good thing to do and what's a bad thing, and I did a bad thing…and there you have it." He later reiterated to Larry King, “I don’t have excuses.” What ever happened to Divine Brown? She told The Daily Mail in 2007 that her brief encounter with the on-screen hunk led to television appearances and magazine exclusives that helped pay for her daughters’ education.
Getty Images; Susan Watts / Getty Images
