Jury apologized to Roscoe Arbuckle after three trials in 1921
After three trials for the death of actress Virginia Rapp, a jury acquitted comedian Roscoe Arbuckle and issued a written apology, though the scandal reshaped Hollywood.
A jury handed comedian Roscoe Arbuckle a written apology after three trials. In September 1921, actress Virginia Rapp was a guest at a Hollywood party in Arbuckle's suite. She became ill and died four days later.
Another guest, Maude Delmont, accused Arbuckle of assaulting Rapp, but he denied it. Prosecutors said he had attacked Rapp. The defense blamed her death on illness rather than violence.
Two mistrials preceded the acquittal
Two mistrials followed. At the third trial, the jury acquitted Arbuckle and issued a written apology. The acquittal closed his criminal case, but what happened inside the suite remained unsettled.
The scandal changed Hollywood
The scandal damaged his career, and Hollywood imposed stricter moral rules. Those rules reshaped the entire industry.
