Last year, Mark Steyn noted that "Celebrity behavior has been pretty consistent for the last century:"

In the Twenties, Hollywood stars shagged anything that moved, did drugs, divorced routinely - but they (or, at any rate, the studios) understood that it would not be good for this stuff to get out, and on the rare occasions it did get out it was a career ender. The gulf between the celeb life and the lives of the masses was a very well-kept secret.

Obviously, that's not the case these days, illustrating huge changes in cultural mores. I'm not sure whatever happened to The Summer of George, but Michele Catalano writes that this year is "the Summer of Tabloid Divorce":

Let’s face it. We are a culture obsessed with our stars. Somewhere around the time of OJ Simpson’s fall from grace, the gossip rags went from generally fawning over lifestyles of the rich and famous to excitedly pointing out their flaws. We have made a culture of watching the unraveling of our pop culture idols. From the Star to TMZ, it’s all about pointing out the inadequacies of the elite, be it mental or physical. If it not Britney Spears’s mental breakdown, it’s Kirstie Alley’s ballooning weight. Behind every story about Angelina Jolie’s expanding brood of children, there’s a story about Brad Pitt’s supposed infidelity. We’ve created an industry devoted to gloating over the downfall of the rich and famous.

It’s not hard to see why we do it. Here’s someone with more money than we could ever imagine. While we’re struggling to make this month’s mortgage, they are spending $7,000 on a handbag. While we contemplate a vacation in our own backyard, they are jetting off to France for a weekend wine tasting.

For some people, there’s a certain satisfaction in seeing their idols brought down to a more human level. Look, they cry just like us! They have feelings! Their lives can fall apart, too! It’s vindication for us that money can’t buy happiness. For others, there’s a smugness that goes with the stories. You may have millions, but at least my marriage is better than yours. At least my kids aren’t in jail.

I think there's an enormous amount of truth in that last paragraph. In the first half of the century, when society didn't know anything about Hollywood's stars, it looked up to them; these days it laughs at their ridiculous foibles. I'm not sure if Hollywood considers that a fair trade, but its not like the worst tabloid offenders do all that much to eschew such publicity in the first place.