How a Viral Instagram Series Is Calling Out Famous Men Accused of Abuse

“Do you remember how trashy Miley Cyrus was? She built an audience of children, then she came out with an explicit music video, sang about drugs, and then she wouldn’t even apologize for it. Anyways, here are famous male abusers who still haven’t been cancelled as much as a woman who doesn’t smile enough, part 7.”

​Instagram content creator Ian Lightfoot has gone viral for his ongoing segment, which starts with an example of a popular actress, sportswoman, or female singer who was dragged through the dirt for her appearance, personality, or private life. He then shifts the subject to detail the egregious allegations and crimes committed by the most reputable men in the same industry. The difference? These men's careers continue to remain unscathed despite the allegations.

​The video series, started in May, has garnered a cumulative 68.8 million views. It has received an overwhelming response on social media as a grim reminder of the double standards involved in disparaging women’s characters over trivial issues, while male celebrities get away with crimes as serious as violence, pedophilia and sexual abuse without facing any real repercussions.

Ronaldo, Tyson, McGregor, Zverev – Abusers revered as sports superstars

In 2017, news outlet Der Spiegel reported that Football star Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly raped an American woman, Kathryn Mayorga, in Las Vegas in 2009. Ronaldo denied the allegations, claiming that sex was consensual between them. However, documents procured from whistleblower site Football Leaks dated September 2009 revealed Ronaldo quoting, “She said “don’t do it " and "stop" several times” during sex. In January 2010, Ronaldo’s legal team is said to have paid $375,000 to Mayorga in an agreement that she would never publicly speak out about the incident.

However, Mayorga re-opened the case in 2018, to which Las Vegas police investigated and concluded that the claims could not “be proven beyond reasonable doubt”. It was confirmed later that Ronaldo would not face any charges of sexual assault. Cristiano Roanldo is now a winner of 3 FIFA World Player of the Year awards, and is chanted as Football’s “GOAT” while currently playing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The series shed light on various other recognized athletes. Tennis player Alexander Zverev, the 2026 French Open winner, was accused of domestic abuse by both his former partners: Junior player Olga Sharypova described multiple abuse incidents, one of them where Zverev had suffocated her with a pillow. Brenda Patea, the mother of Zverev’s daughter, alleged that he had caused her bodily harm, but the trial was discontinued a week later under a settlement agreement where Zverev paid her €200,000. His lawyers said that it was “solely in order to shorten the proceedings, above all in the interests of their child” while claiming that Zverev was innocent.

Professional box Mike Tyson, who was convicted of raping 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, he was released after serving only three years. In an interview with Fox News later, Tyson called Washington “a lying, monstrous young lady” and said, “She put me in that state where now I really do want to rape her.” He runs his own successful business now and continues to be known as one of the greatest professional fighters of all time. Former UFC Champion Conor McGregor who was found liable for choking and raping Nikita Hand in 2018, has been invited to Jimmy Fallon’s talk show recently, which has gained widespread backlash.

The abuse list extends to the film and music industries

Amongst the biggest names mentioned in the series was Brad Pitt, who was accused by his former partner Angelina Jolie of physically abusing her and choking one of their children. Actor Russell Brand of Despicable Me and Trolls admitted to having “exploitative consensual sex” with a 16-year-old when he was 30, which is statutory rape. When asked about the incident, he responded with, “I was a lot younger; I was an immature 30-year-old.”

Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is alleged to have threatened to kill his ex-wife and of sending explicit images to his female co-worker. Academy Award-winning director Quentin Tarantino is infamous for his abusive behaviour on set: choking Diane Kruger with a chain and spitting on Uma Thurman, forcing her to shoot a dangerous car scene that led to her being removed by medics. Actor Woody Allen allegedly molested his and Mia Farrow’s 7-year-old daughter Dylan, and left Farrow to be in a relationship with their adopted daughter who was 35 years younger than him. He has 4 Oscars and 2 Golden Globes.

Heinous allegations of abuse against several renowned singers, such as Jon Henley of The Eagles, Chris Brown, Dr. Dre, rapper Tory Lanez, and Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys, have all been covered in this series so far. The list continues to grow, each case just as worse, if not more, than the ones before.

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Jared Leto’s rampant sexual misconduct

In part 4 of his series, Lightfoot spoke about actor Jared Leto’s history of grooming several teenage girls. A woman who came across the video shared a personal incident with him where she got a signature of Leto (who was 36) at a concert when she was 16 years old, and later got an email from his assistant that they would contact her later when she was legal. Nonetheless, she was contacted the very next day.

​The victim had chosen to remain anonymous, Lightfoot says, but had given him permission to share her story on his page. He also shared a link to a long-form video detailing the victim’s story on his YouTube channel. Lightfoot describes this as “the single thing he is most proud of.” He added, “If I am able to help survivors share their stories and get their messages out into the world, I’ll die knowing that I did something right.”

A platform to track abusers and share victims’ experiences

After speaking up about the story of Jared Leto’s survivor, Lightfoot shared that he had received messages from several victims opening up to him about their assault experiences. He then created a website, FamousMaleAbusers.com, containing a growing tabular list of all such male celebrities, what they’re known for, the accusations against them along with credible articles and sources of information, and the accolades they received despite the allegations. Pages for resources and contact details have also been included.

​Lightfoot said in one of his videos, “I’m hoping that having a public, searchable database of these alleged abusers will help continue to expose people to the rampant abuse committed by men, especially when they have too much money. And if I can help support survivors, listen to their stories, and amplify their experience, then I’m all for that too.”

Fame is granted by the public, but so is infamy

Public response around this series has been highly supportive, sparking discussions about accountability and abuse of power by men. Ian Lightfoot has earned high praise for creating a platform that helps victims speak up. “I want this to be a place where survivors feel safe, heard, and most of all, believed”, he adds.

Until accountability matters more than accolades, abuse by powerful men will only remain a scandal to discuss, when it should be a reality to confront. A system that punishes women for being disliked, while celebrating men even when they commit crimes is a system deeply in need of a reckoning. It is up to us to make famous male abusers infamous by remembering their crimes for longer than their reputations. When the pedestal that we put such men on is our doing, we should remind ourselves that destroying it lies in our hands too.

This article is written by Hridya Lakkadi, a student of CBIT, interning with Deccan Chronicle.