10 Film Documentaries That Accidentally Uncovered Major Scoops

4. Weiner - Anthony's Weiner Ruins Mayoral Campaign

Gimme Shelter 1970 documentary
Showtime

Prominent politicians are always going to make for intriguing documentary subjects, but the directors of 2016's Weiner did not expect their film to be as gripping as it turned out.

The production started by trailing U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner following his 2011 resignation, which was instigated when some raunchy pictures of his own personal weiner were leaked onto the web. The purpose of the documentary was to chart Weiner's comeback during his 2013 New York City mayoral campaign, but as you've probably guessed by now, that isn't exactly what happened.

His campaign efforts did get off to a decent start, with promising evidence that he might even go on to win. However, while cameras were rolling on the film, a new batch of photos - which Weiner had sent under the pornstar-sounding alias "Carlos Danger" - were uncovered, swapping his potential comeback for a very painful (and very public) downfall.

The documentary crew captured intimate footage of Weiner and his family struggling with all this heat, which, understandably, led to his refusal to watch the final product. "I know how it ends" he said. "And it wasn't pretty."

Contributor
Contributor

WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.