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Celebrity scandals happen at the speed of a social media post these days, and it's hard to keep track of who gets castigated for doing what to whom. But fifty years ago, the tumultuous life of the biggest celebrities in the world a juicy affair or a salacious rumor persisted much longer – to the point that many became legends, still repeated to this day. Read on to find out all the must-have details on six of the most explosive celebrity scandals of the '70s.

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On February 4, 1974, newspaper heiress and 19-year-old student Patty Hearst was kidnapped by a group of revolutionaries calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Over the next few months, she underwent a stunning transformation, appearing in a shocking video released to the media announcing that she had adopted the name "Tania" and chosen to stay with the group and fight for "the freedom of all oppressed people," according to CNN.

Hearst then participated in criminal activities, including a bank robbery and carjacking, with ALS. She was arrested in September 1975 and, during her trial two years later, the young woman claimed to have been coerced. Hearst was convicted of the robbery and a firearms charge, but her seven-year sentence was eventually commuted by the then president. Jimmy Carter .

Even more gossip-worthy than the Beatles split in 1970. John Lennon's "lost weekend", which actually spans 18 months, from 1973 to 1975. Yoko Ono to embark on an affair she set up with their personal assistant, a 22-year-old May Pang , the period was reportedly marked by the singer-songwriter's heavy drinking and partying in Los Angeles, culminating in two notorious incidents in 1974 in which Lennon was expelled from a club for rowdy behavior, according to The Guardian . ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

Although tumultuous, this phase saw Lennon reestablish his friendship with Paul McCartney , find his son Julian , and engage in collaborations with artists like david bowie And Harry Nilsson . Eventually, he reconciled with Ono and returned to his family, marking the end of the Savage Chapter.

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Revered as a director of films, including Chinese district And Rosemary's Baby and having won the sympathy of a nation as the actor's widower Sharon Tate , who was murdered in 1969 by the Manson family, Polish filmmaker Romain Polansky was one of the most famous filmmakers of the 60s and 70s. This led to his arrest in 1977 for drugging and raping a 13 year old girl all the more shocking, and the details of the crime (occurring at the home of Jack Nicholson , who was not present at the time) made headlines.

Polanski made a plea deal that would have saved him jail time, but when he learned the judge was presiding over the case, Laurence J. Rittenband , considering rejecting the deal and putting him behind bars, the filmmaker fled the United States. He went first to London, then to France, of which he was a citizen. The country refused to extradite him and, fearing arrest, he never returned to the United States. Thirty years later, the crime and resulting scandal were the basis for the 2008 documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired .

Iconic silent film star Charlie Chaplin died on Christmas Day 1977 aged 88. A few months later, two mechanics dug up Chaplin's coffin and body from the Swiss cemetery where he was buried and attempted to extort $600,000 from Chaplin's widow , Oona. They eventually revealed its location in a nearby cornfield after police traced their calls, and Chaplin's body was returned to its resting place, albeit with a concrete barrier.

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Legendary martial artist and actor Bruce Lee died tragically in 1973, at the height of his fame. Although he was formally attributed to cerebral edema which he had previously been diagnosed with, his death at the age of 32 has caused widespread concern. conspiracy theories about the cause , including murder by greedy business partners and a family curse - a theory that would sadly gain even more traction with the accidental shooting death of his son in 1993. Brandon Lee during the filming of The crow .

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Elizabeth Taylor And Richard Burton were both married when they began their affair on the set of Antony and Cleopatra in 1963, dubbed "the scandal" and condemned by the Vatican for "erotic vagrancy". After divorcing their respective spouses and marrying on March 15, 1964, they spent the next decade indulging in press attention and lavish spending before their first divorce in 1974. due to infidelity and respective addictions painkillers and alcohol. However, their love rekindled and they remarried in 1975, only to divorce less than a year later in 1976.