The Film desk

Actors, directors and the people who make the films. What ended up on the record about them, and what they did when nobody expected it to be reported.

Every case below has closed: the answer is printed and the full story is on the case page. 1 of these 19 have been to the jury.

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Closed cases

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-… It was Steve Buscemi 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… 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 p… It was Carmine Caridi 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 … It was Will Smith 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 wa… It was Christian Bale 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 — a… It was Bette Davis 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 honoure… 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 ca… It was Ryan Reynolds 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 hi… It was Harrison Ford 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 se… It was Bill Murray 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 — weari… It was Matthew McConaughey 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 … It was Tom Hanks 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 B… It was Kate Winslet 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 co… It was Paul Rudd 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 … 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 … It was Winona Ryder 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 a… 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 t… It was Keanu Reeves 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 n… It was Robert Downey Jr.

How the jury has ruled across the whole archive →

*Every puzzle is drawn from widely reported, public-record events — court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television. Allegedly.
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