Tag: dark 100

DragonKing Dark: The scandals of WWE’s Vince McMahon

Posted on by Karl Stern

On this week’s DragonKing Dark, my run through the 100 darkest moments in pop culture series concludes with a trio of scandals involving WWE head honcho Vince K. McMahon.

I look at the alleged assault of Rita Chatterton, the 1990s steroids trial, and last summer’s exposed hush money scandal which temporarily saw him removed from power….only for him to come back stronger.

McMahon is not only Teflon when it comes to scandals, he somehow escapes any karma and comes back more powerful and wealthy. He is a super villain even Lex Luthor would be proud of.

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DragonKing Dark: The strange story of Fishbone

Posted on by Karl Stern

Fishbone quickly became one of the most influential and inventive bands in all of popular music during the 1980s. However, the bizarre story of band member Kendall Jones threatened to derail this eclectic group.

Not only did he allegedly join a cult but another band member, determined to save him from himself, launched a plot to kidnap him. 

In my ongoing series of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture series, this is the strange journey of Fishbone.

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DragonKing Dark: The trials of Slick Rick

Posted on by Karl Stern

Have you ever seen a show with fellas on the mic with one minute rhymes that don’t come out right? Well, pioneering rapper Slick Rick had a lot of things that didn’t come out right. The biggest of which was the U.S. government who hated him and sought him out at every turn. 

The story of Slick Rick (Richard Martin Lloyd Walters) makes the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history because, well, his bodyguard tried to kill him so Rick grabbed a gun, as rappers sometimes do, and went out and managed to shoot a few of the wrong people. The government then spent decades trying to deport him like Tony the Tiger.

Word.

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DragonKing Dark: The mysterious death of Thomas Ince

Posted on by Karl Stern

Thomas Ince was the father of the Western movie genre.

During his career in the pioneer days of filmmaking, he produced around 800 movies and also was the first person to build their own movie studio.

So how did he end up on my ongoing list of 100 of the darkest moments in pop culture history?

Because of legendary historical figure and media mogul William Randolph Hearst, legendary actor Charlie Chaplin., and a hole that, may or may not, have been in Ince’s head.

On this week’s DragonKing Dark, learn all about Ince and his mysterious death.

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DragonKing Dark: The tragic death of Chadwick Boseman

Posted on by Karl Stern

Continuing my 100 darkest moments in pop culture history on DragonKing Dark, we look at the shocking and tragic death of actor Chadwick Boseman.

He rose to worldwide prominence as Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe movies, including his own critically acclaimed solo film. The world was shocked when, unknown to virtually everyone, he died from complications from colon cancer.

Today, we remember Chadwick Boseman on DragonKing Dark.

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DragonKing Dark: The night Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear

Posted on by Karl Stern

My 100 darkest moments in pop culture history series continues on DragonKing Dark.

In 1997, one of the most bizarre moments in boxing, sports and pop culture took place when during the second Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield fight, Tyson viciously bit the ear of Holyfield not once, but twice.

Tyson earned himself a disqualification and tons of negative publicity. 

This strange incident was a real black ear, err….eye, for boxing and stands as one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history.

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DragonKing Dark: The Mel Gibson rants

Posted on by Karl Stern

Look, ok: Mel Gibson is a very good, and famous, actor. I like numerous Gibson movies: Mad Max, Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Passion of the Christ, and on and on it goes. 

But there have been enough maniacal outbursts for anyone to wonder what exactly is going on inside Gibson’s head. Apparently, he is very anti-Semitic (and against others) and has expressed this in the most vile of terms.

Learn all about it on this week’s DragonKing Dark.

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DragonKing Dark: The death of Whitney Houston

Posted on by Karl Stern

Whitney Houston was one of the most recognized and successful voices in any era of music with chart topping hit after chart topping hit.

However, a toxic relationship and a reality show with hip hop artist Bobby Brown brought attention to darker problems lurking in her life. Sadly, she would be dead before the age of 50 and an iconic voice would be silenced.

I take you through one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history with the death of Whitney Houston.

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DragonKing Dark: The crimes of Jared Fogle

Posted on by Karl Stern

Note: Listener discretion advised

You probably didn’t expect the face of evil to look like a geek eating a footlong did you? 

Yet, here he is: Jared Fogle.

Why this goof became pop culture famous is beyond me, I mean, sure, literally for eating sandwiches and losing weight, but he’s sitting in prison now as he pleaded guilty to child sex tourism and child pornography charges in 2015.

There’s literally nothing good about this story and it’s certainly one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history. 

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DragonKing Dark: The Robert Blake murder trial

Posted on by Karl Stern

Actor Robert Blake was best known for his role in the 1970s TV crime drama Baretta. 

His star faded and in 2002, he became pop culture famous yet again but for an undesired reason — he was accused and arrested for shooting his wife to death in the parking lot of an Italian restaurant in California.

Though he was acquitted of the charge, suspicions remained and tainted his life and career until his death just last month.

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DragonKing Dark: The Lance Armstrong scandal

Posted on by Karl Stern

Lance Armstrong is far and away the most famous cyclist that has ever lived, dominating the Tour de France and many other world class cycling events. 

He was pop culture famous in the United States and beyond. However, that much domination, especially in sports, invites questions about performance enhancing drugs and, in Armstrong’s case, it ruined the career of one sport’s most famous athletes.

In my continuing series on the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history, I look at the wild scandal surrounding Armstrong.

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DragonKing Dark: The dark side of World Class Championship Wrestling

Posted on by Karl Stern

My 100 darkest moments in pop culture history rolls on as this week, we return to the world of professional wrestling with, arguably, the first place many people think of when it comes to a lot of young deaths in wrestling: the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling.

WCCW saw many wrestlers die young, the Von Erichs infamously of suicide (mostly), but there were multiple cocaine overdoses, and more.

Let’s look back at the dark side of World Class Championship Wrestling.

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DragonKing Dark: The Michael Richards/Kramer comedy club scandal

Posted on by Karl Stern

On this week’s DragonKing Dark, my series on the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history continues with a very popular individual in pop culture.

Michael Richards played the quirky character Cosmo Kramer on the megahit TV sitcom Seinfeld. Kramer was a fan favorite character, eliciting cheers every time he popped in the door.

But after Seinfeld ended its run and while still an incredibly popular show in syndication, Richards took a try at stand-up comedy and it went wrong. Very, very, wrong.

Let’s get into it on this week’s DKD.

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DragonKing Dark: The Payne Stewart plane crash

Posted on by Karl Stern

In 1999, television viewers tuned into the story about an out of control jet plane flying across the country from Florida toward Canada.

The unresponsive plane was tailed by military jets across the country, failing to make contact with any ground control. Military pilots observed the windows of the jet frosted over indicating that the cabin had lost pressure. 

Adding to the intrigue was that onboard the jet was a famous sports personality in PGA golf champion Payne Stewart.

Let’s delve into it on this week’s entry into the Dark 100.

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DragonKing Dark: The 2000 Paralympic Games basketball cheating scandal

Posted on by Karl Stern

Inarguably, one of the 100 darkest moments in pop culture history took place at the 2000 Paralympic Games where, brace yourself, Spain competed in basketball with players representing themselves as intellectually disabled who weren’t. 

Yes, you read that right.

They also won the gold medal and outed themselves once it hit the newspapers. The International Paralympic Committee obviously punished someone for this embarrassing atrocity right? Yes, but it was the intellectually disabled who they banned from competing in future games.

This story will make your head melt. Let’s talk about it on this week’s DragonKing Dark.

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