Let’s be real for a second. The way we talk about the list of celebrities who have sex tapes has changed completely since the days of grainy VHS tapes and dial-up internet. Back in the nineties, a leaked video was a career-ending catastrophe—or at least it was supposed to be. Fast forward to 2026, and the "leak" has basically become a marketing pillar for some of the biggest empires on the planet.
But it’s not all "strategic branding" and business deals. For every star who turned a private moment into a billion-dollar Skims empire, there’s someone else whose life was genuinely wrecked by a violation of privacy. It’s a messy, complicated history that involves disgruntled contractors, predatory distributors, and a public that—honestly—can’t seem to look away.
The Tape That Changed Everything: Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee
You can’t talk about this topic without starting with the big one. In 1995, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee had a safe stolen from their home by a pissed-off electrician named Rand Gauthier. Inside that safe was a Hi8 tape of the couple on their honeymoon.
They didn't sell it. They didn't want it out.
Pamela has been very vocal, especially recently with her 2023 memoir and the Pam & Tommy series, about how much this crushed her. She was seven months pregnant with her son Dylan and facing "horny, weird lawyer men" in depositions who asked her the most invasive questions imaginable. It wasn't a career boost; it was a trauma that lasted decades. Seth Warshavsky, an early internet porn mogul, eventually streamed it on a loop, and by the time the couple signed a deal just to stop the legal bleeding, the world had already seen it.
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The Business Model: Kim Kardashian and Ray J
If Pam and Tommy were the victims of the old world, Kim Kardashian became the architect of the new one. Kim Kardashian, Superstar hit the world in 2007, just months before her family’s reality show premiered.
The story is legend now.
Ray J has claimed for years that the "leak" was actually a partnership between him, Kim, and Kris Jenner. Whether you believe the "momager" conspiracy or Kim’s version of the story, the math doesn't lie. Vivid Entertainment reportedly paid a third party $1 million for the footage. In its first six weeks, the tape brought in $1.4 million. It basically acted as the world’s most explicit pilot episode for Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Interestingly, by 2022, the narrative shifted again when Kim used her new show on Hulu to document her legal battle to prevent more footage from coming out. It’s a weird full-circle moment where the tape that made her famous is now something she wants to shield her kids from.
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The "One Night in Paris" Fallout
Paris Hilton is another name that's always on the list of celebrities who have sex tapes, but her experience was arguably more humiliating than Kim’s. Filmed in 2001 with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, the tape was released in 2004—right as The Simple Life was peaking.
Paris has described it as a "digital rape."
She was only 20 when it was filmed. Salomon, who later married (and divorced) Pamela Anderson twice, was the one who marketed it. He even gave it the punny title 1 Night in Paris. Paris sued, settled for around $400,000, and has spent the last twenty years trying to prove she’s more than just a "dumb blonde" punchline.
Other Notable Names on the List
The list is actually way longer than most people realize. Some were forgotten, others were total shocks.
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- Rob Lowe: One of the earliest scandals. In 1988, a tape of Lowe with two women (one of whom was 16, though he claimed he didn't know) nearly ended his "Brat Pack" run. He recovered, but it took years of reinventing himself as a comedic actor.
- Farrah Abraham: The Teen Mom star tried to claim her 2013 tape was a leak, but later admitted she sold it to Vivid for $1.5 million. It was a blatant attempt to follow the Kardashian blueprint, though the results were... different.
- Hulk Hogan: This one wasn't just a scandal; it was a legal war that killed a media company. Hogan sued Gawker for $100 million for posting a clip of him with Heather Clem. He won, and billionaire Peter Thiel helped fund the lawsuit to effectively bankrupt the site.
- Dustin Diamond: The late Saved by the Bell star released Screeched in 2006. He later admitted in his memoir that he used a "stunt double" for the actual sex scenes because he was desperate for money and relevance.
Why People Still Search for This
Honestly, it’s voyeurism mixed with a weird sense of celebrity "authenticity." We live in an era of highly curated Instagram feeds. People want to see the unpolished, raw, and—let’s be honest—vulnerable side of people who seem untouchable.
But the legal landscape in 2026 is much harsher. With the passage of the Take It Down Act in 2025, it’s now a federal crime to publish nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII). This applies to both real leaks and AI deepfakes. The era of a website hosting a stolen tape for "news" purposes is essentially over. Platforms now have 48 hours to scrub this content once it’s reported, or they face massive federal fines.
The Actionable Truth
If you’re looking into this because you’re curious about celebrity history, it’s worth noting how much these events shaped modern privacy laws. Here’s what you should actually know about the current state of things:
- Consent is the only line that matters: Modern audiences (and the law) now distinguish between a "leaked" tape (theft) and a "released" tape (business).
- The "Kardashian Effect" is rare: Most people who have a tape leaked find it ruins their mental health and career prospects rather than building an empire.
- Legal recourse is real: If you or someone you know is a victim of a leak, the 2025 "Take It Down" legislation means you have more power than Pamela Anderson ever did in 1995. You can trigger a federal removal process that actually works.
The takeaway? The list of celebrities who have sex tapes isn't just a tabloid curiosity. It's a timeline of how we, as a society, learned to value—or devalue—the concept of privacy in a digital world.
To stay protected in the modern age, ensure your private data is encrypted and be aware of the "Take It Down" resources provided by the FTC if your privacy is ever breached.