The Morgue

Where solved cases go to rest. Every past ALLEGEDLY* blind item, who it turned out to be, and the full story behind it — drawn entirely from public record. A new case is filed here every midnight, the moment the day's edition closes.

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Film (23) · Music (16) · Sport (22) · Television (10) · The Jury

Closed cases

CASE No. 71October 4, 2026 Mid-sentence during a 2006 television interview, this European filmmaker was shot — by an air rifle, fired from a nearby building. He glanced down at … It was Werner Herzog CASE No. 70October 3, 2026 At 92, this mathematician turned songwriter put every lyric and every score he had ever written online and told the world to help itself — copyright a… It was Tom Lehrer CASE No. 69October 2, 2026 This household-name athlete keeps a cheerful public log of strangers failing to recognise him — airport staff, hotel clerks, and one man who said he l… It was Tony Hawk CASE No. 68October 1, 2026 In February 2009 this Oscar-nominated actor shuffled onto a late-night couch behind an enormous beard, mumbled through the strangest interview in the … It was Joaquin Phoenix CASE No. 67September 30, 2026 In 2020, at the peak of his playing career, this 22-year-old forward wrote an open letter about being hungry as a child — and forced a national govern… It was Marcus Rashford CASE No. 66September 29, 2026 After a decade of furious denials — and lawsuits against his accusers — this seven-time champion in yellow finally confessed everything on daytime tel… It was Lance Armstrong CASE No. 65September 28, 2026 In June 2024, this former boy-band frontman was pulled over in the Hamptons after a hotel dinner and told officers he'd had 'one martini' — a quote th… It was Justin Timberlake CASE No. 64September 27, 2026 Lying in medal position at the 1988 Olympics in a rising gale, this Canadian sailor turned off the course, pulled two drowning rivals out of the sea —… It was Lawrence Lemieux CASE No. 63September 26, 2026 In 1984 customs officers at a London airport opened this American leading man's luggage and found cocaine tucked inside a can of shaving foam — and a … It was Stacy Keach CASE No. 62September 25, 2026 Picked up at a Michigan airport in 1978 with more than half a kilo of cocaine, this future sitcom dad gave prosecutors the names of other dealers — an… It was Tim Allen CASE No. 61September 24, 2026 Pulled out of a race on the eve of the start in 2006, this German Grand Tour winner spent six years denying everything — until sport's highest court m… It was Jan Ullrich CASE No. 60September 23, 2026 Caught with heroin in a hotel room, this veteran guitarist walked out of court without a day in prison — the judge instead ordered him to play a free … It was Keith Richards CASE No. 59September 22, 2026 This big-haired New Jersey rock institution runs restaurants with no prices on the menu — you pay what you can, pay extra to cover a stranger, or work… It was Jon Bon Jovi CASE No. 58September 21, 2026 In 2020, the world learned this rhinestoned country legend had quietly bankrolled vaccine research with a $1 million donation — on top of the 200-mill… It was Dolly Parton CASE No. 57September 20, 2026 Between pictures, this 1940s screen star sat down with a composer and co-invented a frequency-hopping system for guiding torpedoes. The patent was gra… It was Hedy Lamarr CASE No. 56September 19, 2026 In 2014 this hard-rock drummer telephoned a man in New Zealand and told him he was coming over to kill him — a call that cost him eight months of home… It was Phil Rudd CASE No. 55September 18, 2026 For days after 9/11, this hangdog indie-film character actor turned up unannounced at his old firehouse in New York and worked 12-hour shifts in the r… It was Steve Buscemi CASE No. 54September 17, 2026 In 2000 this national team captain admitted taking around $100,000 from bookmakers for information and forecasts — and was banned from his sport for l… It was Hansie Cronje CASE No. 53September 16, 2026 In December 2025 the governor of Tennessee pardoned this tattooed country-rap singer from Antioch for the felonies of his youth — a robbery as a teena… It was Jelly Roll CASE No. 52September 15, 2026 In 1969 this children's television host sat in front of a skeptical Senate subcommittee, spoke quietly for six minutes, and walked out having saved $2… It was Fred Rogers CASE No. 51September 14, 2026 In August 2019, this tattooed tough-guy character actor was at the scene of a two-car crash in Sylmar within seconds — and crawled into an overturned … It was Danny Trejo CASE No. 50September 13, 2026 For three awards seasons this veteran character actor handed his screener tapes to a man in Illinois who copied them to disc and put them online — and… It was Carmine Caridi CASE No. 49September 12, 2026 Told by the league to stop making a particular celebration gesture, this Memphis point guard known for enormous dunks made it again the same night — a… It was Ja Morant CASE No. 48September 11, 2026 At the 2016 Rio Olympics, this Olympic medallist told the world he'd been robbed at gunpoint at a gas station — security footage told a rather differe… It was Ryan Lochte CASE No. 47September 10, 2026 In February 2025 the world's number one men's tennis player accepted a three-month suspension by agreement with the global anti-doping agency — which … It was Jannik Sinner CASE No. 46September 9, 2026 A New York judge ruled in 1976 that this former member of a very famous band had copied a girl-group hit from 1963 for one of his own songs — then fou… It was George Harrison CASE No. 45September 8, 2026 On a safety-car restart at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix this Dutch driver chasing a fifth straight title steered into a rival and collected a ten-secon… It was Max Verstappen CASE No. 44September 7, 2026 Midway through the 2022 Oscars — less than an hour before winning Best Actor — this Philadelphia-born megastar walked onstage and slapped the presente… It was Will Smith CASE No. 43September 6, 2026 In 2004 this Romanian international forward failed a drug test at his English club, which tore up his contract on the spot — then spent six years losi… It was Adrian Mutu CASE No. 42September 5, 2026 A Los Angeles jury decided in 1994 that this big-voiced balladeer had lifted a 1960s soul record for one of his own hits — and handed down what was th… It was Michael Bolton CASE No. 41September 4, 2026 On his marathon debut in April 2026 this four-time Formula One world champion ran London in two hours fifty-nine — clearing the three-hour target he h… It was Sebastian Vettel CASE No. 40September 3, 2026 In 2009 four minutes of audio leaked from a film set, on which this intensely committed leading man tore into a crew member for wandering into his eye… It was Christian Bale CASE No. 39September 2, 2026 In March 2025 roughly 800 seniors at six fire-hit Los Angeles-area high schools watched a video message from this deadpan boss of a Scranton paper com… It was Steve Carell CASE No. 38September 1, 2026 At 2:25 a.m. the night after Thanksgiving 2009, this most famous athlete on the planet crashed his Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree at the end … It was Tiger Woods CASE No. 37August 31, 2026 Sent off in Dublin in November 2025 for an elbow on an Ireland defender, this Portugal captain and record goalscorer drew a three-match ban — two of t… It was Cristiano Ronaldo CASE No. 36August 30, 2026 In the final act of his legendary career — extra time of a World Cup final — this French midfield maestro planted a headbutt into an Italian defender'… It was Zinedine Zidane CASE No. 35August 29, 2026 Sick of the parts her studio kept handing her, this two-time Oscar winner sailed for England in 1936 to work for somebody else — and a London judge ru… It was Bette Davis CASE No. 34August 28, 2026 Crossing the line at the 2026 London Marathon in three hours twenty-one, this green-skinned witch of a 2024 blockbuster was met by speakers near the f… It was Cynthia Erivo CASE No. 33August 27, 2026 Over fourteen weeks in 1956 and 1957 this tweedy young academic beat all comers on a prime-time quiz show and won $129,000 — because the producers had… It was Charles Van Doren CASE No. 32August 26, 2026 Gazetted in the 2026 New Year Honours and knighted at Windsor that June, this Hackney-born star of Luther and The Wire was honoured not for acting but… It was Idris Elba CASE No. 31August 25, 2026 In 2020, this sarcastic Canadian superhero and a trash-TV-lawyer friend bought a struggling fifth-tier football club — then got caught crying in the s… It was Ryan Reynolds CASE No. 30August 24, 2026 In November 2025 this midfielder who bent free kicks for England knelt before King Charles III at Windsor Castle and stood back up a knight — his wife… It was David Beckham CASE No. 29August 23, 2026 In 2019, this Emmy-winning TV housewife paid a fixer $15,000 to quietly correct her daughter's SAT answers — and became the first parent sentenced in … It was Felicity Huffman CASE No. 28August 22, 2026 On the rainy morning of round two of a 2024 major, this world No. 1 golfer was led away in handcuffs after a traffic misunderstanding outside the cour… It was Scottie Scheffler CASE No. 27August 21, 2026 In 1994 this champion figure skater pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct the investigation into an attack on a rival — and her sport's governing b… It was Tonya Harding CASE No. 26August 20, 2026 In the summer of 2000, this gruff space-smuggler-turned-screen-legend fired up his personal helicopter and rescued a dehydrated hiker off an Idaho mou… It was Harrison Ford CASE No. 25August 19, 2026 In 2022, this chart-topping Bronx rapper pleaded guilty over a 2018 strip-club brawl — flying bottles included — and settled the tab with 15 days of c… It was Cardi B CASE No. 24August 18, 2026 During a 1997 title rematch watched by millions on pay-per-view, this heavyweight champion did something with his teeth that got him disqualified, fin… It was Mike Tyson CASE No. 23August 17, 2026 Receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018, this laid-back West Coast rap institution closed his speech by thanking the one person nobod… It was Snoop Dogg CASE No. 22August 16, 2026 In 2022, this youngest-ever Wimbledon champion was sentenced to two and a half years in a British prison for hiding assets — trophies included — from … It was Boris Becker CASE No. 21August 15, 2026 On his 20th birthday in 1970, this future comedy legend joked at Chicago O'Hare that he was carrying bombs in his luggage — the search that followed f… It was Bill Murray CASE No. 20August 14, 2026 In 2007, this original '90s supermodel spent five days mopping floors at a New York sanitation garage — court-ordered payback for throwing a cell phon… It was Naomi Campbell CASE No. 19August 13, 2026 In 1999, Austin police answering a noise complaint found this laid-back Texan leading man at home, playing the bongo drums — wearing nothing whatsoeve… It was Matthew McConaughey CASE No. 18August 12, 2026 In 2022, this wrestler-turned-movie-star you can't see set a Guinness World Record that may never be broken — more than 650 wishes granted for one chi… It was John Cena CASE No. 17August 11, 2026 In 2007, this reality-TV fixture served 23 days in an L.A. county jail for violating probation — with news helicopters tracking every mile of the driv… It was Paris Hilton CASE No. 16August 10, 2026 For years, this two-time Oscar winner has been repeatedly caught crashing strangers' wedding photos — jogging into a Central Park shoot mid-run, posin… It was Tom Hanks CASE No. 15August 9, 2026 In 1989, this Hungarian-born glamour icon was pulled over in Beverly Hills driving a Rolls-Royce with expired plates — and responded by slapping the o… It was Zsa Zsa Gabor CASE No. 14August 8, 2026 When lightning set Richard Branson's private-island mansion ablaze during a 2011 hurricane, this English Oscar winner scooped up Branson's 90-year-old… It was Kate Winslet CASE No. 13August 7, 2026 In 2019, a Pennsylvania student took a cardboard cutout of this beloved 4-foot-10 icon to prom as his date — so the actor retaliated by posing with a … It was Danny DeVito CASE No. 12August 6, 2026 America's queen of domestic perfection traded a spotless domestic image for a prison jumpsuit in 2004, after a suspiciously well-timed stock sale land… It was Martha Stewart CASE No. 11August 5, 2026 On a rainy morning of early voting in Brooklyn in October 2020, this suspiciously unaging Marvel everyman was found handing out cookies to voters stuc… It was Paul Rudd CASE No. 10August 4, 2026 Fifty seconds into a 19-year-old's first VMA acceptance speech in 2009, this Chicago superproducer-turned-rapper climbed onstage, took the microphone … It was Kanye West CASE No. 9August 3, 2026 In December 2014, this stadium-filling songwriter spent weeks studying her own fans' social media, then mailed them hand-wrapped presents — an operati… It was Taylor Swift CASE No. 8August 2, 2026 Two weeks before his first big American studio premiere in 1995, this floppy-haired British rom-com king was arrested in a parked car off Sunset Boule… It was Hugh Grant CASE No. 7August 1, 2026 In December 2001, this darling of '90s indie cinema strolled into a Beverly Hills luxury department store and left with more than $5,500 in unpaid mer… It was Winona Ryder CASE No. 6July 31, 2026 Since 2007, this '80s crooner with the impossible baritone has been the unwitting engine of the internet's most wholesome prank — one of his songs dep… It was Rick Astley CASE No. 5July 30, 2026 In 2021, this 7-foot-1 Hall of Fame giant was caught at a Georgia jewelry counter quietly paying off a stranger's engagement ring — then tried to conv… It was Shaquille O'Neal CASE No. 4July 29, 2026 When her husband was pulled over for drunk driving in Atlanta in 2013, this America's-sweetheart Oscar winner got out of the car and asked the officer… It was Reese Witherspoon CASE No. 3July 28, 2026 In 2011, a grainy cell-phone video caught this action-movie star quietly giving up his subway seat to a stranger on a New York Q train — and the clip … It was Keanu Reeves CASE No. 2July 27, 2026 In January 2014, this baby-faced pop idol was arrested in Miami Beach after allegedly drag-racing a rented yellow Lamborghini — and somehow the bookin… It was Justin Bieber CASE No. 1July 26, 2026 In 1996, this troubled leading man wandered into the wrong Malibu house and was found by the homeowners asleep in a bed that was not his — one chapter… It was Robert Downey Jr.