Today marks a few things: One, it's Friday, a.k.a., the end of the work week, a.k.a. a reason to blare Rebecca Black, and two, it's release day for Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel's new film Sex Tape — that is, the comedy you've probably seen a dozen commercials for by now about a couple who tries to reinvigorate their sex life by making a sex tape on their iPad, only for it to end up being sent to all of their friends who they gave iPads to for Christmas presents. Now, no: I do not understand how one couple was able to afford a bunch of brand new iPads to give to their colleagues and friends, and no, I do not understand why said iPads were already connected to the couple's iCloud account when they gave them out (unless they opened them all and pre-connected them to their account themselves, but why would anyone do that? I DON'T UNDERSTAND.) However, the film is on early track to be somewhat of a box office success, so maybe sex tapes is actually topic worth exploring.
So, of course, Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel did not actually make a sex tape for the movie, though their characters really clearly did. It kind of begs the question though: What celebrities, other than the infamous Kim Kardashians, Paris Hiltons, and Pamela Andersons of the world, have?
Luckily, this is the age of the Internet, so it's not that difficult to find out.
Kim Kardashian
Of course, we all know this story: Back before Keeping Up With the Kardashians had blessed our lives with its existence, Kim Kardashian was the personal stylist to Brandy, the BFF and stylist of Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan's personal shopper. She was also dating Brandy's brother Ray J, and the two decided to celebrate their active sex life with a tape that was later sold to and leaked by Vivid Entertainment in 2007. While the media tried to make the release of the tape out to be a huge scandal, it only ended up helping Kim's career: She's now one of the richest celebs in Hollywood, married Kanye West, a recent Vogue covergirl, and the creator of that app you don't tell any of your friends you actually play, Kim K Hollywood.
Paris Hilton
We all know the story of this one too. Back in 2001, Paris Hilton made a sex tape with then-boyfriend, photographer Rick Salomon. Her career, like Kim's, pretty much skyrocketed after the release of the video, and now, Paris is busy making music videos with unicorns and flower crowns.
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson actually has not one, but two sex tapes circulating: One, perhaps the most infamous of all celebrity sex tapes (apart from Kim Kardashian's) was released in 1998 with her former husband Tommy Lee, and one was released in 2005 with Bret Michaels.
Rob Lowe
It's kind of funny that Rob Lowe is actually starring in a movie called Sex Tape, when he coincidentally had a huge scandal with one of his own back in the '80s. As Lowe recalled, according to the Sydney Morning Herald , the release of the sex tape nearly destroyed his career — but now, he calls it one of the best things to ever happen to him. When producers would refuse to hire him because of the release of the sex tape, Lowe fell deeper into his addiction to alcohol, to the point where he realized he needed help. "Because what it ends up doing is accelerating my alcohol [addiction] to where I finally get sober," he explained during an interview on Oprah in 2011. "I have been able to have the rest of my life that I’m so blessed with, which is now 20 years of sobriety."
Colin Farrell
Colin Farrell probably has the funniest attitude about his sex tape of any celebrity on this list. Reports surfaced in 2006 that Farrell had made a sex tape with his former girlfriend, Nicole Narain, and it leaked onto the Internet soon after. In a recent interview on the UK's Graham Norton Show, when the subject came up, Farrell responded with this great line: "That’s the worst thing about making a sex tape — you can’t blame anyone for the dialogue."
Dustin Diamond
Yep, that's right — Screech from Saved By the Bell has a sex tape. And it was called "Screeched." Though the tape was released in 2006, he has claimed more recently that he actually used a body double for the tape, a la Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac , and that it was only his face in the video — nothing else.
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson — seriously. According to TMZ , former Tonight Show host Carson made a sex tape with his wife back in the '70s that was recently being shopped around to "private collectors," whatever that means. Who knew?
