TV documentaries were the catalyst for several scandals.  Lifetime’s Where is Wendy Williams? may not have surprised us, but it was still shocking.  Despite her health issues, she was out in August shopping for holistic aids.

The Netflix doc White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch focused on tawdry activity by CEO Mike Jeffries.  The year ended with him in a Palm Beach courtroom facing sex trafficking charges.  But is he mentally competent?  I think so, but paperwork has been filed and there is a February 6^th deadline for medical evaluation.

UK’s Channel 4 ran Spacey Unmasked which focused on Kevin’s alleged victims.  Then a funny thing happened – Spacey fought back.  Sure, he’s defended himself in court.  But now he sat with Piers Morgan for a full 90 minutes…and even admitted to being “handsy”!  Since then, many stars spoke up on his behalf.  People like Sharon Stone, F. Murray Abraham and Liam Neeson publicly called for him to have a second chance.  Will it happen?

There’s not much more to say about those poor, misunderstood Menéndez brothers.  Between a docudrama and a documentary, public support was on their side – as was most of their surviving family.  But an election that ousted sympathetic LA DA George Gascón and installed incoming DA Nathan Hochman could thwart any hope the boys had.  As the year drew to a close, Lyle’s wife Rebecca filed for divorce!  You know – just in case he gets out.

The lurid documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV enumerated the many misdeeds against child actors.  While most of the claims were decades old, they nonetheless provoked strong feelings and shock.  Plus, how can you ignore any show that makes a star of Drake Bell – who, I dare say, looked quite fetching.