- 6 months ago
No one is above the law — and these cases proved it.
In this video, we’re counting down 10 times controversial and powerful individuals were finally brought to justice. Whether through criminal charges, public backlash, or legal consequences, these figures faced real-world accountability for their actions.
From political scandals to celebrity crimes, this list covers some of the most shocking moments where justice caught up—featuring infamous names you’ll definitely recognize.
Which case stood out the most to you? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to follow for more real-life justice stories and true crime countdowns!
In this video, we’re counting down 10 times controversial and powerful individuals were finally brought to justice. Whether through criminal charges, public backlash, or legal consequences, these figures faced real-world accountability for their actions.
From political scandals to celebrity crimes, this list covers some of the most shocking moments where justice caught up—featuring infamous names you’ll definitely recognize.
Which case stood out the most to you? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to follow for more real-life justice stories and true crime countdowns!
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Six accusers took the stand against Harvey Weinstein at his trial and some
00:0480 other women have made allegations of misconduct against him.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo. And today we're counting down our picks for the top 10
00:12controversial figures who faced justice for their actions.
00:16The defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records
00:23in the first degree.
00:24Number 10. Bernard Bernie Madoff. There's just one thing about it though.
00:32He never looks you in the eye. Retirees going on food stamps, charities losing their donations,
00:38people losing their homes, and even taking their own lives. These were only some of the consequences
00:44of the world's largest Ponzi scheme, perpetrated by financier Bernie Madoff. Bernie Madoff's fraud was
00:50not a complex fraud. It involved simply taking people's money, telling them he was going to
00:56invest their money, and he never did. No one knows exactly when Madoff's $65 billion
01:01scheme began, but some estimates have it going on for 33 years before it finally ended in 2008.
01:07Despite numerous whistleblower complaints, the SEC had never once investigated or disciplined Madoff.
01:14In fact, he was only caught when his sons blew the whistle, one day after Madoff came clean,
01:19proving that blood maybe isn't thicker than water.
01:22I just can't continue this charade any longer, and that's what caused me to acknowledge to my family.
01:32Madoff pled guilty to fraud and money laundering, and was sentenced to 150 years in prison,
01:37where he died of disease in 2021.
01:41Number 9. Sam Bankman-Fried.
01:43Bankman-Fried said,
01:44I never thought that what I was doing was illegal,
01:47but I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn't meet that standard.
01:51Cryptocurrency has been around since 2009, but for most people, it's still just what their odd
01:57uncle tries to get them to invest in at every family Christmas party.
02:00One of crypto's poster boys was FTX co-founder and current incarcerated felon, Sam Bankman-Fried.
02:07The MIT alum founded cryptocurrency exchange firm Alameda Research with Tara McCauley in 2017.
02:14Two years later, he diversified his portfolio by co-founding his own crypto exchange, FTX.
02:20When Alameda Research experienced financial difficulties in 2022, Bankman-Fried illegally dipped
02:26into his own cookie jar and used FTX client funds to help keep it afloat.
02:31He assured those customers, as his FTX crypto exchange was collapsing, that their money was
02:38safe. But when customers went to withdraw their funds in November 2022, the funds were not there.
02:42This triggered a mass exodus of customers from FTX, which eventually went bankrupt.
02:48Bankman-Fried was arrested for fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
02:53Bankman-Fried plans to appeal this conviction.
02:55He told us he does not believe he received a fair trial, writing a one-sided media frenzy
03:00and the defense's inability to get in critical evidence infected the whole process.
03:05Number eight, Danny Masterson.
03:07In May 2023, a jury of his peers found actor Danny Masterson guilty of two counts of sexual assault.
03:14This was the culmination of a long and difficult road to get justice for his victims.
03:19The women who were attacked in the early 2000s came forward in 2017.
03:23Masterson's first trial in 2022 had a hung jury and was declared a mistrial. The Church of Scientology,
03:30of which Masterson was a member, reportedly worked heavily to derail his conviction. The church
03:35reportedly offered financial incentives to victims to not come forward, harassed or threatened them,
03:41and targeted police officers and attorneys investigating the charges.
03:44Jane Doe One testified the church blamed her and put her through weeks of ethics programs.
03:51She says she felt pressured to make peace with Masterson and move on.
03:55The church has denied these allegations.
03:57That is the law of Scientology. We are not allowed to report crimes to the authorities.
04:03We're not allowed to sue each other.
04:05Twenty years after the attacks, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
04:09Once the verdicts were read, he was immediately handcuffed and remanded into custody.
04:14Number 7. Jeffrey Epstein
04:16Financier Jeffrey Epstein amassed his fortune in the 1980s, counting as friends many of society's
04:22elite, including billionaires, heads of state, royalty, and celebrities. The first allegations
04:28of abuse against him emerged in the late 90s. Subsequent investigations uncovered dozens of other
04:34victims, mostly minors, who had been abused by Epstein or his associates for years.
04:38As we found additional victims, one victim would tell us about others,
04:43those others would tell us about others, and it began to multiply geometrically.
04:48In 2008, he received a controversial but sweetheart deal that saw him plead guilty to solicitation
04:54and spend only 13 months in jail. The victims are left beaten and destroyed and with no answers.
05:02The Me Too movement brought renewed attention to the case,
05:05and Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges following another extensive
05:11investigation. He was found dead in his cell one month later, having apparently taken his own life,
05:16although many claim foul play was involved.
05:19We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning
05:24and demand a thorough investigation.
05:296. Elizabeth Holmes
05:31Asking yourself whether you're wrong is a really good thing. If you really feel strong conviction
05:37that you're doing the right thing, then keep going.
05:407. Elizabeth Holmes
05:42Sporting her signature Steve Jobs turtlenecks and baritone voice,
05:45Elizabeth Holmes appeared to be the perfect role model for aspiring female entrepreneurs.
05:51The Stanford dropout founded her company Theranos in 2003.
05:55Its signature creation? A revolutionary blood testing device,
05:58Edison, that only needed a few drops of blood.
06:01The concept captivated investors and media and turned Holmes into a startup sensation.
06:07At its peak, the company was worth $9 billion, landing Holmes on the Time 100 Most Influential
06:13People list. A 2015 Wall Street Journal investigation, however, exposed that Edison was a failure and
06:20Theranos built on lies.
06:22The reckoning fueled a barrage of scathing news reports.
06:25The SEC charged Holmes along with her former COO slash boyfriend Ramesh Sunny Balvani with defrauding
06:33investors of $700 million. She was relegated to Fortune's 19 Most Disappointing Leaders List
06:40and sentenced to over 11 years in prison for wire fraud.
06:43These were the last moments of freedom for Elizabeth Holmes as she entered a Texas federal prison.
06:49It's where she'll spend tonight and potentially the next 11 years.
06:53A stunning fall from grace for the one-time tech superstar.
06:57Number 5. Bill Cosby
07:00For decades, he was America's dad, one of its top comedians, and an inspiration to many in the field.
07:06That all came to a grinding halt when Hannibal Buress accused Cosby of sexual assault during a 2014
07:12comedy routine. Up until this point, accusations of assault and abuse against Cosby had not been taken
07:18very seriously. However, Buress's remarks, combined with the failed meme-me marketing stunt from the
07:24Cosby team, opened the floodgates. Multiple women came forward accusing Cosby of drugging and abusing them.
07:31I never saw any drugs, but I would wake up completely confused, half-dressed.
07:39Cosby denied these allegations, but admitted to occasionally drugging women while in, quote,
07:44consensual relationships. He was tried and found guilty of aggravated assault in 2018.
07:50The verdict was overturned in 2021, but Cosby's career and legacy have been irreparably tarnished.
07:56Just hours after the court's ruling, Cosby coming before cameras outside of his home,
08:00celebrating his release after serving more than two years of a three-to-ten-year prison sentence.
08:05Number 4. Alex Jones
08:07But I will stomp your head in if you start a fight with me, you thug scum! Anyways,
08:12excuse me, ladies and gentlemen.
08:13In December 2012, 26 people, including 20 students, tragically lost their lives during
08:19the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, sparking renewed gun control talks in the U.S.
08:24Meanwhile, like an angry chihuahua barking from its owner's purse, Alex Jones called the incident a
08:30false flag and a hoax, claimed the victims and survivors were all crisis actors, and tormented their
08:36families for years.
08:37I can't even describe the last nine and a half years of the living hell that I and others have had
08:46to endure because of the negligence and the recklessness of Alex Jones.
08:51He then proceeded to sell supplements and other largely bizarre or useless products to his millions
08:57of listeners. After defamation lawsuits in Texas and Connecticut, Jones was ordered to pay nearly
09:03$1.5 billion to victims' families. Jones filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and is now forced to sell
09:10or surrender most of his assets in order to pay these massive settlements.
09:14The plaintiffs, 15 of them, relatives of the dead plus an FBI agent who responded to the scene,
09:21sat weeping in the spectator's gallery as this award was read.
09:25Number 3. Donald Trump
09:27The defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first
09:35degree. Reality TV star and self-made-ish businessman Donald Trump has become one of the
09:41most polarizing figures of our time. For years, he bulldozed through life, mercilessly doing and
09:46saying whatever was on his mind, regardless of the consequences. As President of the United States,
09:52his inappropriate behavior, witch-hunting and spouting of utter nonsense made him both worshipped
09:58and reviled. The Home Alone 2 actor faces multiple election fraud charges, and has been hit with over
10:04$400 million of civil litigation penalties. In May 2024, he was convicted of 34 counts of
10:11falsifying business records. He has appealed this verdict, deflecting blame and desperately trying to
10:20make himself great again. Recent Supreme Court decisions may have an impact on some of the charges
10:26against him. If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone. Number 2. R. Kelly
10:32The so-called Pied Piper of R&B is no stranger to sexual abuse allegations.
10:38I am a survivor. I lived it, and I survived it.
10:42They had followed him since he first started to bump and grind in the 90s. In late 1994, Kelly illegally
10:52wed singer Aaliyah while she was still a minor. The wedding was annulled just a few weeks later at
10:57the request of her family. An infamous 2002 video that showed Kelly abusing a minor led to an investigation
11:04and trial where he was eventually acquitted. In the middle of all of these allegations,
11:08R. Kelly is just dropping music. The 2019 Lifetime documentary, Surviving R. Kelly,
11:15renewed the investigations against him, and he was arrested for multiple federal charges of
11:20racketeering and sexual abuse. Kelly believed he could fly, but in the end,
11:24he just crash-landed into a 31-year prison sentence. Prosecutors accused him of leading
11:29a criminal enterprise of managers, bodyguards, and other employees to recruit and abuse women.
11:35Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
11:39about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:45If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
11:51Number 1. Harvey Weinstein.
11:53Six accusers took the stand against Harvey Weinstein at his trial, and some 80 other women have made
11:59allegations of misconduct against him. Famous movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was first accused of
12:04sexual assault and abuse in a 2017 New York Times New Yorker expose. Eventually, over 80 women would
12:12come forward, with abuse accusations going back 30 years. Weinstein was dismissed from his company,
12:18and had many of his titles and honors revoked. He was found guilty of sexual assault and misconduct
12:23in separate trials in New York and California, and sentenced to a combined 39 years in prison.
12:29His New York verdict was reversed on appeal due to legal technicalities in April 2024, though he remains
12:35in prison. Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the majority was whitewashing the facts to conform
12:41to a he-said-she-said narrative, and said the Court of Appeals was continuing a quote,
12:46disturbing trend of overturning juries' guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.
12:52Despite a legendary five-decade career, Weinstein will now be remembered for his reputation as a bully,
12:58for his assault convictions, and for helping launch the MeToo movement.
13:02Yesterday's verdict was certainly a watershed moment for those involved in the MeToo movement,
13:08and many say this is just the beginning. Which of these controversial people do you
13:12think deserved justice the most? Who out there still needs to be held accountable? Let us know in
13:17the comments below. Accusations swirled around him for decades, and authorities believe for years
13:22his actions were protected by his fame.
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