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Stars under siege

Blackmailed celebrities — Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, and Cameron Diaz have all been victims of attempted extortion.
/ Source: Entertainment Weekly

John TravoltaTravolta claims a paramedic and a former Bahamian senator demanded $25 million to keep quiet about a ''refusal to transport'' document the star signed after his son Jett's fatal seizure last January. The judge ordered a mistrial in the first case. A new trial will be held early next year.

Oprah WinfreyIn 2006, the talk-show queen sicced the FBI on a man who wanted $1.5 million to bury taped phone calls that he claimed contained damaging information about Winfrey. Feds dismissed the charges in exchange for community service and a fine.

Tom CruiseCruise called authorities in 2007 when two men demanded $1.3 million in exchange for stolen photos of the star's wedding to Katie Holmes. One man was fined and sentenced to probation. The other hanged himself after pleading guilty.

Cameron Diaz
Seminude photos from her modeling days came back to haunt Diaz when a photographer forged the star's signature on a release form and tried to extort $3 million to keep the pics private. He was sentenced to four years behind bars.

Bill Cosby
A woman who claimed to be Cosby's illegitimate daughter was sentenced to 26 months in jail in 1997 after she asked for $40 million to keep the story out of the tabloids (Cosby refutes her claim).