Oona O'Neill and assistant, Harry Crocker. Crocker photographed the event for gossip columnist Louella Parsons, to whom Chaplin had given exclusive rights to publicize news of the marriage in the hopes that she would write a more positive article about it than her rival, Hedda Hopper, who strongly disliked him. The elopement received a large amount of media attention due to the 36-year age gap between O'Neill and Chaplin, and because his ex-girlfriend, Joan Barry, had filed a paternity suit against him only two weeks earlier. Although Agnes had given the union her blessing, it cemented O'Neill's estrangement from her father, who
Hedda Hopper hired Trumbo to write the script for "Spartacus" (1960), Hopper denounced the film in her column, stating that "[the script is based on] a book written by a Commie and the screen script was written by a Commie, so don't go see it." Nonetheless the film was a critical and financial success. Charlie Chaplin was another target of Hedda Hopper's vitriol because of his alleged Communist sympathies and his penchant for much younger women, which she considered immoral. She also loathed him for remaining a British citizen and not becoming an American, which she considered an act of ingratitude towards