Fatty Arbuckle's 3 Murder Trials Blacklisted Him from Hollywood. Inside the First Scandal to Rock the Movie Industry

Long before modern celebrity scandals played instantly on social media, one of Hollywood's earliest and most explosive controversies made newspaper headlines across the country.

At the center of it all was Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a silent film star whose career once rivaled the biggest names of his era. In 1921, Arbuckle became the focus of a criminal case tied to the death of actress Virginia Rappe, launching public outrage.

What followed was a series of highly publicized trials, testimonies and intense media coverage that helped shape how Hollywood — and its stars — would be scrutinized for decades to come.

More than a century later, the case remains one of the most controversial cases of the Golden Age. Here's what happened to Fatty Arbuckle.

Who was Fatty Arbuckle?

Born in 1887 in Kansas, Arbuckle worked his way up through vaudeville (a popular form of variety entertainment at the time) before transitioning to film in the 1910s, where his physical comedy quickly set him apart.

Despite the nickname (which he reportedly disliked), Arbuckle became one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood at the time. By the early 1920s, he had signed a lucrative contract reportedly worth $1 million per year, an enormous sum for the era, per his bio on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Arbuckle was also instrumental behind the scenes. He mentored several performers who would go on to become legends in their own right, including Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

At the peak of his fame, he was seen as a reliable box office draw and a central figure in early Hollywood's rise. That reputation, however, would dramatically change in 1921, when his name became linked to a case that would overshadow everything he built.

What happened to Virginia Rappe?

Arbuckle traveled to San Francisco on Labor Day weekend in 1921 during a break from filming. On Sept. 5, he hosted a party in a suite at the St. Francis Hotel — an event that, like many Hollywood gatherings of the time, reportedly included alcohol despite Prohibition, per the BBC .

Among the guests was Rappe, who became seriously ill during the party. Witnesses later described her as being in visible distress, complaining of severe abdominal pain.

She was eventually taken to a nearby hospital, where her condition worsened over the following days.

Rappe died on Sept. 9, 1921, with the official cause of death listed as peritonitis resulting from a ruptured bladder. Almost immediately, questions began to surface about what had happened inside Arbuckle's hotel suite, and whether her injuries were the result of some sort of assault.

According to the BBC, much of the initial accusation came from another party guest, Bambina Maude Delmont, who claimed that Arbuckle had raped Rappe. She claimed she heard screams after the two reportedly ended up in a bedroom alone together.

Her statements made it into the press, quickly turning the incident into a national scandal. However, Delmont's credibility would later be called into question, and she was never asked to testify during the trials.

As the story spread, newspapers ran sensational and often graphic accounts of the alleged events, fueling public outrage before many of the facts were even established.

Due to growing pressure, authorities arrested Arbuckle and charged him in connection with Rappe's death.

What were the outcomes of each of the three trials?

From the start, the prosecution argued that Arbuckle had assaulted Rappe during the Labor Day party. They claimed his weight, which was often exaggerated in headlines, had caused fatal internal injuries, namely, her ruptured bladder.

He was initially charged with first-degree murder, though that charge was later reduced to manslaughter.

The first trial, which began in November 1921, ended in a hung jury, according to the Bar Association of San Francisco .

By the second trial in January 1922, the division seemed to have shifted. This time, more jurors leaned toward conviction, but once again, no unanimous verdict could be reached.

Behind the scenes, the defense continued to expose major issues with the prosecution's case. Arbuckle's primary accuser, Delmont, had a criminal history herself, per the BBC, and was linked to an alleged extortion plot targeting the actor.

She never testified in court, and it also emerged that some witnesses may have been pressured into giving statements against him.

The third trial, held in March 1922, marked a turning point for Arbuckle. With a stronger defense strategy and mounting inconsistencies in earlier testimony, the jury delivered a unanimous not guilty verdict, per the BBC.

In a rare move, jurors issued a written apology, stating, "Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle… A grave injustice has been done."

Was Arbuckle ever found guilty?

Arbuckle was formally charged following Rappe's death, initially accused of first-degree murder, though that charge was later reduced to manslaughter before the trials began.

However, despite widespread rumors at the time, Arbuckle was never charged with sexual assault. That rumor largely grew out of sensationalized media coverage rather than the actual legal case.

After facing three trials, he was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

What happened to Arbuckle's career?

Even after being fully acquitted, Arbuckle's career never recovered from the scandal.

In the immediate aftermath of the trials, Hollywood moved quickly to distance itself. The case led to the establishment of a censorship board, which banned Arbuckle from participating in movies.

Behind the scenes, he managed to stay connected to the industry by directing films under the pseudonym "William B. Goodrich," per the San Francisco Bar. During this period, he also helped launch the career of a young Bob Hope after discovering him in Cleveland in the late 1920s.

The financial toll was also significant. Arbuckle faced mounting legal fees and a public that remained largely unconvinced of his innocence. It wasn't until the early 1930s that he began to see signs of a comeback.

In 1933, he signed a contract with Warner Bros., per the BBC. Tragically, on the same day he signed the deal, Arbuckle died of a heart attack at age 46.

Read the original article on People