Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape of Rappe, and after the first two trials, which resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was acquitted in the third trial and received a formal written statement of apology from the jury. The news coverage reached such a pitch that journalist and newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst wrote columns in which he directly accused Arbuckle and added details to the event, such as that Arbuckle had raped Rappe with a bottle. The aggression was so violent that Rappe died four days later. Arbuckle had organized a party in which, it was alleged, he took advantage of Rappe's drunkenness to rape her. The first mediatic case occurred on September 5, 1921, when comic actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle was accused of sexual abuse against actress Virginia Rappe.
There have been cases and accusations of sexual abuse in the American film industry reported against people related to the medium of cinema of the United States.