Variety Confidential

Jan 24 2024 207
Variety Confidential Podcast artwork

Variety Confidential is a new true crime podcast that dives into Variety’s historic archives to explore stories of sex, money and murder in the entertainment industry. Season one, titled “The Secret History of the Casting Couch,” will detail the notorious Hollywood casting couch through the decades and draw parallels between recent sex scandals and those of the past, illustrating that sexual predation in the industry is as old as the Hollywood Hills.

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Errol Flynn "When You're a Star"

Jan 24 2024 26 mins  
After starring in the 1935 film “Captain Blood,” actor Errol Flynn became the big screen’s foremost swashbuckler. Seven years later, two underage girls accused the golden age movie star of statutory rape. In “When You’re A Star,” the sixth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ true crime podcast “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly

Roman Polanski "Disgraced Genius"

Jan 17 2024 27 mins  
Known for “Chinatown,” “Rosemary's Baby” and “The Pianist,” Roman Polanski is one of the most acclaimed directors in cinematic history. He is also a convicted child rapist who has faced several sexual assault allegations over the course of his career. In “Disgraced Genius,” the fifth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ true crime podcast “Variety Confide

Don Simpson "80s Hits and 80s Excesses"

Jan 10 2024 29 mins  
Don Simpson reigned over Hollywood after joining forces with his producing partner Jerry Bruckheimer in the 1980s. Around town, the studio executive-turned-producer’s addiction to sex workers and drugs was no secret — and for decades, he wielded his power in the industry to continue his nefarious and erratic ways. For a full list of sources and citations for this episode, visi

Henry Willson "The Man Who Invented Beefcake"

Jan 03 2024 27 mins  
In episode 3 of “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly unearth the story of Henry Willson, an aggressive, midcentury Hollywood talent agent and manager who succeeded in both spotting and taking advantage of young actors within whom he saw potential for fame. Willson, a closeted gay man, would lure dozens of handsome young men, or “beefcakes”

Darryl F. Zanuck "Four O'clock Girls"

Dec 20 2023 33 mins  
Darryl F. Zanuck was a legendary figure in Hollywood known for leading a major studio, producing top films and assaulting aspiring actresses in the 1930s. That same decade, the term "casting couch" surfaced to describe the abuse of power by Zanuck and other high-powered men who were the gatekeepers of access to the big screen. In “4 O'clock Girls,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host

Alexander Pantages "The Beast"

Dec 13 2023 29 mins  
For much of the last century, a victim's sexual history was allowed as evidence at trial. It became legally admissible after a state Supreme Court ruling in 1931, which was the result of a high-powered and well-funded effort to protect one of Hollywood's biggest names. In 1929, 17-year-old dancer Eunice Pringle alleged that early Hollywood mogul Alexander Pantages attacked her in

Introducing: Variety Confidential

Dec 08 2023 1 mins  
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