Celebrities Caught In Groupie Scandals

While several celebrities have been accused to being caught with groupies, public perception of these admirers of the rich and famous has shifted over the span of decades, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement. As Flare put it in 2020, while "groupies have always held a divisive — and misunderstood — role," back during the '60s and '70s, "the heyday of groupies was a time of cultural, spiritual and sexual revolution." Indeed, back in the day, it might not have seemed like too big of a deal to hear of a celeb hooking up with groupies — especially since there wasn't much proof to show for it, apart from claims churned out in the rumor mill.

But thanks to a little thing called technological advances, stars eventually started getting photographed or filmed by alleged groupies, with the images and videos subsequently being put up on social media for all to see. It seems that many of these reported incidents coincided with the rise of cell phones and social media engagement — leading to a learning curve for those same celebs, whose likeness was captured seemingly without their knowledge or consent. So while some of these groupies' hookup stories may not even be true, their accusations still made headlines when the photos inevitably went viral. 

These are the celebrities who found themselves caught in groupie scandals.

Oftentimes, when James Harden's name is in the headlines, it's for making some poor soul look like a novice on the basketball court while defending him. That's because Harden is considered to be one of the NBA's most prolific scorers. But in June 2015, he made headlines after being photographed in bed by a woman whose Instagram handle is @gvngstvxboo. She then posted the pic to her page, along with the caption, "#Lilsleepytime @jharden13."

Harden stayed quiet about the image, but he was teased about it by people like Bow Wow, who claimed he should have known better. "I see yall boys still young rich and DUMB," the rapper wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post (via The Source). "Now James is my boy but let me say this now. This is how I use to do it. Its called 'leaving no evidence' if you was chilling w me, my security takes phones and you signing papers." Bow Wow continued, "I give credit to the ladies because most of us are just that rich and stupid so yall know how to get us. I been caught up too before not knowing, being a rookie." 

As for @gvngstvxboo, she pretty much disappeared from headlines once shock of the photo subsided, and she hasn't posted anything to her Instagram page since 2016. 

On Nov. 5, 2013, it's safe to say that not many people knew who Tatiana Neves Barbosa was. But that changed just one day later after a short video of Justin Bieber sleeping in bed surfaced on YouTube ... which the Brazilian model supposedly filmed, per E!. Barbosa also shot herself blowing a kiss to the "As I Am" singer in the clip — so right away, the general assumption was that JBiebs allegedly had a tryst with a groupie.

Unsurprisingly, the video instantly got millions of hits, but Bieber and his team never publicly addressed it. However, Barbosa — who was also a part-time actor at the time — did talk about it to The Sun (via Page Six) days later. According to Barbosa, Bieber and his team reportedly rented a villa in Brazil, and one of his handlers asked Barbosa to attend a party there. Afterward, she reportedly went to the singer's hotel room. 

Claiming that she and Bieber had a one-night fling, Barbosa told The Sun that she didn't mean for the clip to get out and had only sent it to a friend to show that she was really with the pop star. But the leak didn't seem to take away from how she felt about her alleged night with Bieber, as she stated, "It was one of the best moments in my life. It was marvelous and unforgettable."

Instagram celeb Celina Powell has been called hip-hop's most famous groupie, as she's claimed to have hooked up with several rappers. In 2018, for example, Powell alleged that she was carrying the child of Offset from Migos, but later admitted to lying about it (via Urban Islandz). Not to mention that, in January 2021, she tried to convince Drake that he gave her his number in the past, but the Canadian rapper said he wanted nothing to do with her. Drake then shared their text exchange to prove that he turned her down cold.

Snoop Dogg may have considered Drake's move when it came to Powell — especially since he's been married to his high school sweetheart, Shante Broadus, since 1997. After Powell claimed that he'd cheated with her by sharing their alleged text messages in July 2018, Snoop seemed to respond on Instagram, saying he'd be starting a TV show called Clout Chasers, the slang term used for those who try to get fame by piggybacking off another person's celebrity. 

Not that this deterred Powell, who later shared explicit details of her alleged tryst with the "Gin and Juice" rhymer in a YouTube video posted in December 2019. The following September, Powell implied that she and Snoop were seeing each other again on Instagram, captioning a photo of him with, "Snoop dogg isn't leaving me lol no matter what I do ... FYI, him and his girl are separated living in different houses." That claim is also yet to be confirmed.

In February 2020, a woman reportedly named Kim Hendrick posted a video that showed someone looking a lot like UFC fighter Conor McGregor sleeping in what appeared to be a hotel room. In the clip, AceShowbiz reports, Hendrick danced and rapped along to Tyga's "Girls Have Fun," featuring G-Eazy and Rich the Kid.

Right away, accusations surfaced that the mixed martial artist had cheated on his longtime girlfriend and mother of his children, Dee Devlin. But for the record, it was never proven whether or not the guy in the grainy clip was even McGregor, so others expressed doubt at the time about whether or not he'd actually engaged in infidelity. 

Meanwhile, the couple — who actually got engaged in August 2020, mere months after the supposed scandal — never addressed the rumor, and as of Feb. 14, 2021, it looks like they're still going strong. "My Valentine," Devlin captioned an Instagram photo of herself and McGregor, complete with crown and red heart emojis. 

There was one particular week in 2016 when Kasi Bennett's phone must have been buzzing with text messages. Who is Kasi Bennett, you might ask? She's sprinter Usain Bolt's longtime girlfriend and mother of his child. Your second question might be: Why was her phone blowing up back then? Well, because photos of the famed Jamaican athlete appearing to be in bed with a woman named Jady Duarte went viral while he was in Rio, Brazil for the Olympics.

Duarte detailed their alleged encounter in a 2016 interview with The Sun, in which she claimed that she met Bolt at a nightclub after he sent his security guard to set up an introduction. When she turned the request down, he reportedly lifted his shirt to show off his six-pack abs, which led to her joining him in his Olympic Village living quarters, which is where they supposedly engaged in a little hanky-panky. Duarte went on to explain that she took photos of herself and the runner and uploaded them to WhatsApp as a way to prove to her friends that she was really with him. 

For his part, Bolt didn't respond to Duarte's interview, but during a 2017 chat with Page Six, he expressed confusion about some of the women he meets. "I think I have gotten better over the years when it comes to women, but there is no way to tell the difference between a groupie and a good woman," Bolt stated.

NFL running back Ezekiel Elliott was seen getting some Zs as an unnamed woman took a photo of two while they appeared to be in bed together. The woman was seen in the photo wearing a pink shirt while holding up her phone to snap the shot while puckering her lips. She also let everyone know who was supposedly in the picture with her, just in case there was any confusion. And according to Bossip, she put the pic on Snapchat right after Elliott was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth overall pick of the 2016 draft that May. 

Of course, the photo went quickly viral for two reasons. One, Elliott was already a household name after having massive football success at Ohio State, and second, he went incredibly high in the 2016 NFL draft. As for the woman in question, she's since done a stellar job of keeping her name out of the press. For his part, Elliott has kept silent about the photo, which seemed to help people eventually stop talking about it so much — and he hasn't been caught up in a similar alleged situation since.

A Massachusetts woman named Sabrina Dudish might've thought that taking a photo with New England Patriots star Julian Edelman would improve her life on some level, but it did the opposite and got her banned from Boston nightclubs. We'll explain. Back in February 2015, Dudish took a picture of someone who appeared to be the wide receiver and posted it to Tinder — just one day after his team won the Super Bowl, per Deadspin. If the photo of a sleeping Edelman wasn't enough to cause shock, what Dudish claimed in the caption sure did the trick: "Just f**ked Edelman no lie." 

The image in question rubbed nightclub owner Michael Winter the wrong way, and he quickly ripped Dudish on Facebook, before apologizing after some thought his message was too harsh. "In many years I haven't BLACK LISTED anyone from the nightclubs. YOU ARE BLACK LISTED 86'd so stay in Metro West. Putting Edelman on Blast during celebration," wrote Winter, according to TMZ. "... Btw you're a 5 if that and he was blackout. I'm sure I speak on behalf of many Boston Industry ppl to not show your face in this city."

The celebrity news site later reported that Dudish apologized for taking the photo and expressed regretted. "I made a mistake. I feel really bad about it ... He passed out and I was bored I guess," she said. "I was drunk ... and I made a mistake and I feel terrible about it."

NBA Player Klay Thompson isn't an athlete who's associated with a lot of off-the-court shenanigans, but in 2015, his name was all over the place — and it had nothing to do with his super sweet jump shot. Thompson made headlines because his girlfriend at the time, model and social media star Hannah Stocking, accused him of committing a personal foul. 

"So I guess he really wanted that tag to get his numbers up," Stocking wrote in multiple since-deleted tweets, which were captured by Yahoo!News. "When you catch ur man naked in bed with a groupie ... lol @KlayThompson." For his part, Thompson remained silent about the accusation, but according to Married Biography, Stockings reportedly broke up with him shortly after. 

Since then, both parties have moved on. In 2020, rumors started to spread Stocking was dating TikTok star Ondreaz Lopez, but the couple later split, which she confirmed in February 2021 while talking to The Hollywood Fix. As for Thompson, he began dating actor Laura Harrier in 2018, as Yahoo!Sports reports.

Country singer Trace Adkins married his second wife, Canadian actor Victoria Pratt, in October 2019 — but years earlier, Pratt admitted to being his groupie and flirted with him on Twitter. In fact, it was reported by Radar at the time that the flirting reportedly led to the singer's then-wife of 17 years, Rhonda Forlaw, to divorce him in 2014.

But Pratt and the Dreamin' Out Loud artist didn't keep their attraction for each other online, because Pratt seemed to imply that they'd hooked up while filming The Virginian, which is where they met. "Gave Trace Adkins a sponge bath at work today ... just another day at the office," tweeted Pratt in March 2013. "I owe the universe big time! #Bestjobever." When Adkins won Celebrity Apprentice that May, Pratt tweeted in all caps, "YAY!! CONGRATS, YOU HANDSOME DEVIL!!" In response, the singer wrote, "Thanks gorgeous! MWAH." 

According to Radar, Pratt later gave an emphatic "yes" when someone asked if she was Adkins' groupie while watching him perform at California's Stage Coach music festival that year. As a source cited by the outlet claimed the following year, "Rhonda was totally humiliated. When Trace told her that he had fallen in love with Victoria Pratt, she completely flipped out." 

For their part, Pratt and Adkins exchanged vows in a New Orleans ceremony that was officiated by fellow country singer Blake Shelton.

Throughout Lil Wayne's long and successful career, fans have seen him in various fashion styles, whether it was the baggy look of the early 2000s or the more fitted look that came years later. But in July 2012, Weezy appeared to be seen in just his boxer shorts and eyeglasses after a woman named Saralyn Rivera was accused of taking a photo of him while he was sleeping, per VladTV. 

Many also assumed the pic was taken following an alleged romantic episode between the two, and the photo instantly went viral. However, model-dancer Rivera claimed it wasn't her who put it online. "Woke up 2 craziness," she wrote in a series of tweets (via VladTV). "[I'll] say this, it wasn't a 'groupie' situation at all ... [It's] between me n wayne actually, but I would never send anything to blogs. Whoever did is a lame. Lol." 

For his part, Wayne didn't respond to the chatter surrounding the photo, but he later made headlines for being with other women, like singer Christina Milian, before they split in 2015 (via ET). In regards to Rivera, it's not clear whether she and Lil Wayne continued their alleged relationship after that photo went viral, but she later promoted the video to his 2020 song "2 Diamonds" in her Instagram bio.