Every community has its open secrets. You know, those things that are so widely known that they’re almost institutional knowledge, yet nobody ever really talks about them out loud. In a family, it might be a great uncle’s gingivitis. At work, it could be who’s really getting credit for a project. Or maybe it’s the couple everyone knows is only still together for appearances.
Hollywood has its own version of this, too, which is perhaps surprising given how much effort the industry puts into managing public image and keeping certain things out of the spotlight. Recently, someone asked Redditors, “What are some of the actual open secrets in Hollywood?” The answers touched on everything from what stars are like IRL to what it actually takes to make it big. They also got into what’s real, what’s fake, and what really goes on behind the scenes. Here’s what they had to say.
#41
Third hand stories, but here goes....
My former coworkers's wife had a very good friend who did makeup on big Hollywood movies. She worked on a Tom Cruise film and said one of the most logistically difficult things about being on location with him was how to get his "boys" on and off the set without being seen.
My sister's friend worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel. John Travolta called down to order a glass of iced tea with a very specific number of ice cubes, like exactly 7 or something like that. Sister's friend, who was a handsome gay man, took it up to the room and JT greeted him at the door in a bathrobe. Friend said his "gaydar" went up immediately as JT was overly friendly, whatever that meant. Yeah - not super juicy, I know, but sounds like some of the other stories.
My former coworkers's wife had a very good friend who did makeup on big Hollywood movies. She worked on a Tom Cruise film and said one of the most logistically difficult things about being on location with him was how to get his "boys" on and off the set without being seen.
My sister's friend worked at the Beverly Hills Hotel. John Travolta called down to order a glass of iced tea with a very specific number of ice cubes, like exactly 7 or something like that. Sister's friend, who was a handsome gay man, took it up to the room and JT greeted him at the door in a bathrobe. Friend said his "gaydar" went up immediately as JT was overly friendly, whatever that meant. Yeah - not super juicy, I know, but sounds like some of the other stories.
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15points
#42
Studios deliberately release Black led films in about 30% fewer overseas regions Executives make the excuse that audiences in Europe and Asia will not buy tickets for movies with Black leads, but they use this claim to avoid spending millions of dollars on foreign marketing but also for a more nefarious reason: In Hollywood, pay for leads is tied directly to worldwide ticket sales, with top stars earning millions and backend profit points based on their international draw. By under distributing the movie and skipping foreign promotion, the studio guarantees the overseas receipts stay low on paper. When contract negotiations start for future franchises or sequels, studio brass point to those suppressed numbers as proof that the black actor lacks global appeal, giving the company an easier financial justification to offer lower pay, lower profit share or deny profit shares altogether.
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15points
#43
There is definite nefarious hazing that happens to professionals in the celebrity fields: modeling/acting/musicians. disgustingly, many of these rituals take place over years through university and into careers (infamous frats/sororities are deeply connected to the industry).
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15points
#44
Like fifteen years ago I met this dude who was a commercial actor. He was in a pretty long running ad campaign that lasted years and just happened to be one of my friend's neighbors. He told me that in LA it was very well known that Tom Cruise was gay. I think today people would probably just say bi but at the time I guess if you did anything with a guy you were immediately just considered gay. Anyways he said that Cruise obviously does a great job guarding that part of his life from the public but I guess for people in Hollywood it's always been a pretty open secret.
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14points
#45
We collectively freaked out in America at the evidence of bot farms influencing elections. Turns out, Hollywood uses them all the time to shape public opinion of celebs, movies, etc.
And no one seems to care.
And no one seems to care.
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14points
#46
Aziz Ansari actually is a creep, he just played it off as him being “awkward with women” to avoid full cancellation.
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13points
#49
Bryan Singer and Kevin spacey had a revolving door of young men to their trailers during superman returns.
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11points
#50
I heard from a guy who used to do hair in Hollywood that will Smith is gay. Said it was a pretty well known secret.
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10points
#51
Eric Andre doesn't really have friends and is weird/creepy to women.
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10points
#52
The reason Keegan-Michael Key never got fame in Hollywood and Jordan Peele did is because Key's wife is the absolute worst person to work with ever and she insists on going on set all the time and dictating all his scenes.
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10points
#53
That a lot of “exclusive” Hollywood events are basically networking opportunities. People aren’t just there to party, they’re making connections, pitching projects, and figuring out who can help their career. It’s a much smaller world than it looks from the outside.
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10points
#54
Commercial loading zones are free to park in after business hours.
8points
#56
Actors promoting other co-stars as the best/sweetest/bonded so well are the people who don't even talk to their co-stars much and probably hate them.
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6points
#57
That people saw Amber Herd come to work bruised from Johnny Depp and that he’d come to set and yank her by her hair and clothes.
They’re too scared to talk because anyone who did was doxxed by his crazy fan base.
I live in LA. I do not work in film anymore. Husband works in post so he never saw because this was all set stuff, but we know plenty of actresses who did and are too scared to talk.
They’re too scared to talk because anyone who did was doxxed by his crazy fan base.
I live in LA. I do not work in film anymore. Husband works in post so he never saw because this was all set stuff, but we know plenty of actresses who did and are too scared to talk.
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0points
#58
Di Caprio is gay and has contractual arrangements with model/actresses to be his beard. He's both very generous and very careful.
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-2points
#59
I met a yachtie who broke his NDA and said a certain very popular female singer free bleeds all over yachts. Doesn't believe in tampons .
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-3points