Every year more celebrities are getting book deals (even if no one asked for them) and the anecdotes included on page keep getting juicer — especially when other notable names are concerned.
2024 brought Us memoirs from stars all across the board, including A-listers like Whoopi Goldberg and Cher. However, reality TV stars turned authors took over with Selling Sunset’s Mary Bonnet and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Heather Gay spilling the tea about their respective pasts and shows.
Meanwhile, Bethanny Joy Lenz’s Dinner for Vampires took Us through her time in the Big House Family cult, while the late Lisa Marie Presley (with the help of her daughter Riley Keough) put her entire life on the table.
Keep scrolling to see which celebrity memoirs from 2024 had the wildest name drops:
Crystal Hefner’s Relationship With Jordan McGraw
Crystal’s Only Say Good Things kicked off the year strong with its January release. Aside from her tales about Hugh Hefner and the Playboy Mansion, she penned a shocking story about … Jordan McGraw. (Yes, Dr. Phil McGraw’s singing son who opened for the Jonas Brothers on multiple tours.)
After initially calling off her engagement to Hugh, she found her “safe haven” in McGraw. “I ran straight to Jordan and hid from it all,” she wrote, noting that their relationship “started to sour pretty quickly” after it started.
Rebel Wilson’s Confession About Sacha Baron Cohen
Wilson released her book, titled Rebel Rising, in April and claimed one of her past costars was a “massive a—–e” when they worked together. The actress later revealed that she was referring to Cohen on the 2016 movie The Brothers Grimsby movie set.
A rep for Cohen denied the claim in a statement to Us at the time.
Marlon Brando Broke Into Whoopi Goldberg’s House
Goldberg struck up a friendship with The Godfather star prior to his 2004 death after he essentially broke into her house to play the piano, she recalled in Bits and Pieces, which was released in May.
How Woody Harrelson Saved Darius Rucker’s Life
Rucker’s Life’s Too Short memoir — which was released in May — opened with the country singer recalling how Harrelson saved his life. While visiting the actor in Hawaii, and after a “treacherous 25-minute descent,” Harrelson and Rucker went swimming. The Hootie and the Blowfish singer then got pulled underwater by a rip current, he wrote.
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“I fight and flail for I have no idea how long — ten minutes, fifteen — and then I hear a voice. Woody,” Rucker wrote. “I can’t see him, but I hear him. He’s not far. … All I know for sure is that somehow Woody pulls me out of the current.”
Mary Bonnett Wearing Idina Menzel’s Shoes
The Selling Sunset star detailed her fast friendship with Netflix costar Amanza Smith in the September book Selling Sunshine. Smith was dating Taye Diggs at the time, and Bonnet had the opportunity to go through his ex-wife, Idina Menzel’s closet.
“Idina had left a bunch of stuff behind that she was planning to donate to charity, and I didn’t have any nice shoes with me,” Bonnet wrote.
Wilmer Valderrama’s A-List Plane Incident
Valderrama’s An American Story memoir, released in September, detailed a near-plane crash with Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson and Colin Hanks. The actors thought “our plane is going down” while flying in a storm following the Super Bowl in 2013.
“The plane is pitching up, down, side to side,” Valderrama wrote. “I’m feeling lightheaded. It’s getting hard to breathe. Oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, and I wonder if they dropped because the turbulence shook them loose or if it’s something else.”
Connie Chung Recalls Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer’s Feud
When Chung worked as an ABC News reporter, she had a firsthand experience of what she called the “same-sex battle” between Walters and Sawyer.
“Instead of battling men, I found myself squeezed between two people I thought should have been allies,” Chung wrote in her Connie: A Memoir book, released in September. “I’d foolishly believed the women would be my comrades.”
JoJo’s Galentine’s With Taylor Swift — and How Selena Gomez Was Involved
The singer recalled spending Galentine’s Day at the “sweet and complimentary” Swift’s house in her Over the Influence memoir, released in September. She was invited into the singer’s inner circle because of a close-knit friendship with Gomez.
Elsewhere in the book, JoJo recalled feeling “the occasional twinge of pain or jealousy” during her friendship with Gomez.
Eric Roberts’ Apology to Sister Julia Roberts
Eric previously took ownership for his sister Julia’s blockbuster acting career. When releasing his Runaway Train memoir in September, the actor apologized for the “asinine” comments he made.
“Now one of the things I’d like to apologize for in this book is for publicly saying on more than one occasion, ‘If it wasn’t for me, there would be no Julia Roberts,’” he wrote. “That’s not only unfortunate, but it’s also untrue. And I hope Julie will accept this more public apology.”
Lisa Marie Presley Taking Michael Jackson’s Virginity
The late Presley devoted an entire chapter in her From Here to the Great Unknown memoir, released in October, about her brief marriage to Jackson. When they first got together in 1994, Jackson was 35 and told Presley he was “still a virgin” before noting that “the physical stuff started happening.”
Bethanny Joy Lenz Has a Moment With Katharine McPhee
The expected cast of characters (her One Tree Hill costars) appeared in Lenz’s October memoir Dinner With Vampires, with an unexpected cameo at the end. The actress recalled crossing paths with McPhee — and having a hilarious interaction — years after escaping The Big House Family cult. At the time, Lenz was telling her friend that she left the church as McPhee listened.
“Kat was bewildered. She put her hand on my arm. ‘Wait, you were in a cult?’” Lenz wrote. “‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Bible study went sideways.’”
Tim Matheson’s Call With Rob Lowe
Matheson’s book Damn Glad to Meet You was released in November. He joked about former costar Lowe asking for his nanny’s number while they worked together on The West Wing. Matheson quipped that Lowe subsequently “stole” her.
Jaleel White’s Nearly-Naked Moment With Magic Johnson
White, of Family Matters fame, reflecting on being a child star in the November Growing Up Urkel book. The actor crossed paths with Johnson in a locker room and joked that the NBA star was “barely holding on” a towel.
“I was trying to keep my eyes to myself, but I was like, ‘Wow.’ I just never imagined I would get this unfiltered view of Magic’s johnson,” he wrote.
Cher Has an Encounter With … Everyone
The first part of Cher’s self-titled memoir, released in November, had tons of celebrity name-drops — but a few stood out among the rest. The singer recalled hanging out with Liza Minelli as a child, and subsequently meeting her mom Judy Garland.
“We did as we were told, and when we sat on the front steps Liza spontaneously burst into song with ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’ I remember thinking that was strange, as I’d never been around a kid who just burst into song like that, even though she was pretty darn good,” Cher wrote. “It was only later that I realized she was Liza Minnelli and that the woman on the stairs was Judy Garland. Now I realize she probably wasn’t drinking juice.”
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Elsewhere in the book, she recalled a moment with Warren Beatty. The actor nearly crashed into her while driving and when Cher got out to yell at him, she recognized Beatty.
“He showed me inside, fixed us some cheese and crackers, then leaned in and kissed me,” Cher wrote. “The two of us went swimming, with me in Natalie Wood’s bathing suit, and we had a great time.”
Heather Gay Raises Eyebrows With Story About Monica Garcia
Gay’s Good Time Girl memoir, released in December, included an accusation that former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah’s husband, Sharrieff Shah, tried to kiss Garcia.
Garcia subsequently denied the allegation in a statement to Us.
