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3. The case against Charlie Chaplin

A relationship of Charlie Chaplin’s lands him in legal trouble, as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and the FBI conspire against him. Hopper calls him and his movies “un-American.”

Charlie Chaplin’s personal life sparks legal woes. Hedda Hopper, known as the queen of Hollywood gossip, was Chaplin’s nemesis, and she deemed him "un-American.” Joan Barry was just 22 years old when she arrived in Hollywood with dreams of stardom. She soon met Chaplin and the pair became romantically entwined. When the relationship went sour, Chaplin’s enemies – including J Edgar Hoover and columnist and radio star Hopper – saw an opportunity. Chaplin soon landed in court facing charges under the White-Slave Traffic Act.

Archive:

The Hedda Hopper Show, 3 December 1940
J. Edgar Hoover, Battle of the United States, Army-Navy Screen Magazine, 1940
Pearl Harbor newsflash, WOR Radio 1941
The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, 1940

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