Celebrity Extortion

Celebrities, by nature, are very high-profile individuals and with the ever-growing popularity of non-stop coverage of nearly all “A-list” celebrities that are “hot” at the moment, their profiles tend to grow larger all the time. Additionally, celebrities are known to make lots of money on the projects that they are involved in, endorsements deals, and their subsequent investments. All of this exposure about them and their financial profile makes celebrities prime targets for extortion.

Just recently, Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes were the target of a celebrity extortion attempt by a 47 year old Arizona man. The man contact Cruise’s representatives claiming to possess private photographs of his wedding day to Holmes and was asking for a sum in excess of $1,000,000 for them. Cruise’s representative immediately went to the FBI and the man was arrested and detained with bail set at $100,000.

This is not the first time that celebrity extortion has taken place, nor will it be the last. In fact, there is no way to know how often it happens because it is very likely and really no doubt about the fact that many celebrities would rather pay an extortionist off before having their private moments become public, particularly if it showed them in a particularly negative light. In Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ case, it happened to simply be their wedding day. While it is certain that they would rather those photos not get into the public eye, they don’t depict the couple doing anything remotely shameful. Since a celebrity’s future earning potential and marketability hinders on their public image, there are many celebrities that would quickly decide to pay off an extortionist leech rather than allow their embarrassing moments go public.

Other public victims of celebrity extortion include, but are certainly not limited to Paris Hilton, Collin Farrell, Tommy Lee, Pamela Anderson, and Oprah Winfrey. Though the reason for the extortion changes with each celebrity that falls victim to extortionists the crime is always the same and is punishable in the same manner that conventional extortion is punishable.