💔 Biggest cheating scandals ranked: Clinton's $90,686 fine tops

Four public figures, each on their own admission, ranked by record, money and fallout. Jesse James said most reported allegations were untrue. 🗣️

By , editor at large · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 4 min read

Bill ClintonRANKEDPhoto: Bob McNeely, The White House[1] · Public domain

Photo: Bob McNeely, The White House[1], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

By the numbers

  • 3y 2mfrom first to latest entry on recordAug 1998 to Oct 2001, 4 dated entries in the file
  • 7receipts behind this story6 news reports, 1 statement, 1999 to 2010

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

Four people, four records, one scoring method. Each entry below is either an admission by the person or a court document, and each is ranked by the Mr Scandal Scandal Score exactly as computed on 2026-11-05.

What we know

  • A federal judge held Bill Clinton in contempt for false testimony in his Jan. 17, 1998 deposition and fined him $90,686 in July 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported.
  • Tiger Woods admitted infidelity in a statement on his website exactly two weeks after his car accident, per an Associated Press column.
  • Diana, Princess of Wales admitted her affair with James Hewitt in a BBC Panorama interview, the BBC reported in January 2003.
  • Jesse James told People in a statement that 'there is only one person to blame' and that 'the vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded.'
RankWhoYearScandal ScoreMoney on recordRecordWhy it ranks
1Bill Clinton199886$90,686 (1999); about $177,879 in 2026 dollarsAdmittedAdmitted the relationship to a grand jury, then a contempt finding, a fine and a law-license suspension.
2Diana, Princess of Wales200348None on recordAdmittedAdmitted the affair with James Hewitt in a BBC interview, per the BBC.
3Jesse James201044None on recordAdmittedPublic apology to his wife and children; the marriage to Sandra Bullock ended.
4Tiger Woods200940$164 (2009); about $253 in 2026 dollarsAdmittedAdmitted infidelity in a written statement; a traffic fine is the only money on record.
01

Bill Clinton: contempt of court, $90,686 fine

Judge Susan Webber Wright of federal court in Little Rock held Clinton in civil contempt in April 1999, ruling he gave false testimony in his Jan. 17, 1998 deposition in a civil lawsuit, and in July 1999 she ordered him to pay $90,686 toward the plaintiff's legal expenses and the cost of her own trip. The record here is both admitted and adjudicated: Clinton acknowledged a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky before a federal grand jury on Aug. 17, 1998, and the Senate acquitted him of perjury and obstruction in February 1999. His lawyer Robert Bennett said 'we accept the judgment of the court'; the lawyers denied misconduct but did not challenge the findings, the Los Angeles Times reported. Arkansas suspended his law license for five years with a $25,000 fine, and the U.S. Supreme Court ordered him disbarred from its bar with 40 days to contest, the Associated Press reported.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
02

Diana, Princess of Wales: the affair, in her own words

The BBC reported in January 2003 that Diana admitted her affair with James Hewitt during a BBC Panorama interview, saying he had been a 'great friend to her at a difficult time'; the date of that interview is not in the report. The same report says she admitted she had been 'devastated' when Hewitt co-operated with Anna Pasternak's book Princess in Love in 1994, because of the effect on her children. The BBC piece is about Hewitt's offer to sell her letters; he told CNN's Larry King that he was 'not being hypocritical' and denied he had betrayed her.

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03

Jesse James: an apology, with a caveat

In a statement provided to People, James apologized to his wife Sandra Bullock and his children, writing that 'there is only one person to blame for this whole situation, and that is me.' The same statement says 'the vast majority of the allegations reported are untrue and unfounded,' so the record is an apology and an acceptance of blame, not a point-by-point confirmation. People reported separately that the couple separated 10 days after the March 7 Oscars following reports that James had cheated.

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04

Tiger Woods: the statement and the $164 ticket

An Associated Press column published Dec. 12, 2009 says Woods posted a statement on his website exactly two weeks after his car accident in which he said, 'I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children.' Florida troopers cited him for careless driving and fined him $164. Jaimee Grubbs told Us Weekly she had a 31-month affair with him; Rachel Uchitel, named by the National Enquirer, denied an affair, per the same column. Woods's own admission is the on-record fact here.

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How the score works: https://mrscandal.com/pantheon/methodology. In short, it blends money on record, record weight, media velocity, staying power and fallout into a 0-100 figure, scored 2026-11-05.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?Clinton was held in contempt and fined $90,686, and admitted the relationship to a grand jury; Woods and Diana admitted their affairs in their own words; James apologized in a statement to People.
  2. On the record or still rumour?James disputed most of the reported allegations.
  3. Which year?Judge Susan Webber Wright held him in civil contempt for false testimony in a civil deposition

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

Earlier on file: Martin Bashir used fake bank statements, Dyson report finds

The Bill Clinton file

Last entry Oct 1, 2001
  1. Ruled

    U.S. Supreme Court ordered him disbarred from its bar and gave him 40 days to contest, per AP. This story

  2. Ruled

    Judge Wright ordered him to pay $90,686 in sanctions; his lawyers said they would not challenge it. This story

  3. Ruled

    Judge Susan Webber Wright held him in civil contempt for false testimony in a civil deposition. This story

  4. Admitted

    Told a federal grand jury he had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, per New York Times report. This story

On file: The Bill Clinton file · The Diana, Princess of Wales file · The Jesse James file · The Tiger Woods file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Clinton was held in contempt and fined $90,686, and admitted the relationship to a grand jury; Woods and Diana admitted their affairs in their own words; James apologized in a statement to People.

Still rumour

  • Whether the Supreme Court disbarment became final is not in the documents read; the AP report only gives 40 days to contest.
  • James disputed most of the reported allegations.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - Mr Scandal

Next on the docket

More Celebrity

More from Mr Scandal, the MrScandal editor at large.