Dec. 11, 2009— -- Just when you were expecting another humdrum holiday season of too much turkey and eggnog, long lines at the airport and the usual family drama, leave it to Tiger Woods to provide a much-needed distraction.
There's nothing like a good-old celebrity scandal to get tongues wagging. And Woods is helping to close out the first decade of the new century with a doozy. With 11 women and counting apparently linked to the married golf superstar, the stories just keep coming:
Woods crashes his car the morning after Thanksgiving in a single-car accident that still has police baffled. Out of the wreck come rumors of Woods' infidelity to wife Elin Nordegren. When cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs releases a bombshell voice-mail message implicating Woods in a nearly three-year affair, the golfer finally issues a Web site apology for his "transgressions."
As more women emerge, Woods is said to be holed up in his Florida estate, while his wife may have moved out and her mother is rushed to the hospital, possibly from the stress of the erupting scandal.
Although it may seem nothing can top the implosion of Woods' carefully crafted image, there were plenty of other star scandals that rocked the headlines in the past 10 years. A look back at the biggest celebrity scandals of the decade:
Britney Spears
Even Madonna wanted a piece of her. Their kiss at the 2003 VMAs made headlines around the world and is still one of MTV's most-talked-about moments.
By 2006, it appeared the pop princess was ready to abdicate her throne, her marriage to Kevin Federline and custody of their two boys, Sean Preston and Jayden James. A months-long saga of bad behavior that included multiple flashes of her private parts, countless nights on the town and allegations of drug and alcohol abuse culminated in February 2007 with Spears buzzing off her famous locks at a Tarzana, Calif., hair salon while photographers snapped away outside.
It took nearly two years and her father taking charge of her life before Spears regained her footing. Musically, she ends the decade on an up note, on tour with her latest album "Circus," which went platinum.
Janet Jackson
