1.
In 1979, 70-year-old Nelson Rockefeller — both the former vice president of the United States and a member of the ridiculously rich Rockefeller dynasty — reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack at his desk in his Fifth Avenue townhouse. I say “reportedly” because it was soon pointed out that his desk was in a totally different house and that his 25-year-old assistant, Megan Marshack, had waited an hour before calling for an ambulance. Oh, and she called a friend first. Hmm. Eventually, the truth came out: Rockefeller had keeled over while vigorously cheating on his wife with Marshack…in his private apartment.
2.
David Carradine was a Hollywood icon best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu and later as the sinister Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. In June 2009, shocking news broke: He was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room. At first, reports claimed it was a suicide, but things quickly took a bizarre turn. He was found naked, hanging in a closet, with a rope tied around his neck, wrists, and genitals. Soon, speculation spread — was this an accident, an intentional act, or something even more sinister? In the end, authorities ruled his death as accidental asphyxiation, likely due to autoerotic asphyxiation (basically a risky, reckless, and frankly dumb sexual practice where a person strangles themselves while masturbating to increase arousal).
3.
Félix Faure was the president of France from 1895 to 1899, a man known for his charm and diplomacy. Um, okay, you might be thinking, Why the hell am I reading about a 19th-century French politician on BuzzFeed? Here’s why: On Feb. 16, 1899, the 58-year-old president invited his mistress Marguerite Steinheil (who was exactly half his age), to the Élysée Palace for an afternoon — ahem — meeting. It’s believed Steinheil was performing oral sex on Faure in his presidential office (shades of the Clinton years) when he suffered a massive stroke. According to palace staff, Steinheil screamed for help, and the president was found in a highly compromising position — some even claim he died mid-orgasm, pants around his ankles. Rumors soon spread and the public nicknamed Steinheil “La Pompe Funèbre” — a dirty pun roughly translating to “the funeral pump.” Yikes.
4.
Want one of these stories about…a pope? Well, buckle up. In 955, thanks to powerful family connections, Pope John XII was elected pope at just 18 years old — and he acted like a modern 18-year-old frat boy, treating the Vatican like his personal frat house, complete with gambling, drinking, and orgies. The party came to an end in 964 when the 27-year-old pope was caught in bed with a married woman, and her husband beat the horny “religious” figure to death. Since this tea is over 1,000 years old, there’s some uncertainty about whether the angry hubby story is true (another account says John XII had a fatal stroke mid-coitus). The church tried to clean up the story, but it was too juicy to bury. Some priests even argued his entire papacy was illegitimate due to his immoral lifestyle.
5.
If you’re thinking, Well, something like that would never happen in today’s Catholic church, it’s time to learn about Cardinal Jean Daniélou, a respected French theologian, Jesuit scholar, and rumored future pope, who was found dead of a heart attack in 1974. But not just anywhere. He died in the Paris home of a sex worker, with lots of money in his pocket. The church first claimed he died on the street, then revised their story to say he died at the sex worker’s home with money so she could bail her husband out of jail. Uh-huh. The priesthood scrambled to contain the scandal, and his supporters noted he was known to advocate for marginalized communities. Still, skeptics weren’t buying it. Was he visiting her for humanitarian reasons? Or for something a bit more…hands-on? We’ll never know. (But we know.)
6.
Sir Billy Snedden was a significant figure in Australian politics, leading the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975 and even earning a knighthood. His absolutely bonkers death, though, overshadowed everything else. Let’s set the scene: It was 1987, and a 60-year-old Snedden checked into a motel in Sydney with a very young woman…who also happened to be his son’s ex-girlfriend! That’s already messy enough. But then Billy died during intercourse. The woman fled the scene and called emergency services, who discovered Snedden naked in bed and still wearing a condom. If you know anything about Australians, you know they weren’t about to let this go without taking the piss. One newspaper ran the headline: “Snedden Died on the Job.” Another said: “Snedden’s Final Position.”
7.
Alright, alright, alright! It’s time for a wholesome one of these stories involving sex with a spouse (and not, like, their kid’s ex). James McConaughey — dad to Matthew — apparently had a very specific plan in mind, and it involved going out in the throes of passion, as explained by Matthew in his 2020 memoir Greenlights. James, a former football player and pipe supplier, was a tough, boisterous Texan with an outsized personality and a love for his family — including his wife, Kay. Matthew wrote that his father had long declared, “Boys, when I go, I’m gonna be makin’ love to your mother.” A bold prediction…that turned out to be 100% true. One morning in 1992, James suffered a fatal heart attack during sex with his wife. He was 63. The moment was, of course, devastating — but also carried a strange kind of poetic weight. As Matthew put it, “He called his shot and he died his way.”
8.
Michael Hutchence was the lead singer of the Australian rock band INXS, which was best known in the USA for their #1 hit “Need You Tonight.” In 1997, the 37-year-old was found dead in a Sydney hotel room under mysterious circumstances. Here’s what we do know: Hutchence was found naked, kneeling on the floor, with a leather belt tied around his neck and attached to the door. It was ruled that he died by suicide, but almost instantly, people had questions. Why the nudity? Why the specific positioning? Why the belt? Some suggested Hutchence had died during autoerotic asphyxiation, as David Carradine had. His family pushed back, saying he had been depressed over custody issues with then-girlfriend Paula Yates. Still, police found no suicide note, and there were no drugs found, just alcohol and a couple mild prescription meds.
9.
Maurizio Zanfanti — better known as “Zanza” — became famous throughout Italy for his epic romantic conquests. He wasn’t a singer, actor, or influencer, just a dude with a mullet, a leather jacket, and endless amounts of rizz. In the 1970s, he started working as a nightclub promoter, chatting up foreign tourists and convincing them to party at local spots. Over the decades, Zanfanti claimed to have slept with more than 6,000 women. “Sometimes it takes no more than a look and within five minutes we are making love,” he told the Independent. He also claimed that, during the holiday season, he could have sex with four girls a day. Newspapers crowned him “Italy’s Greatest Playboy,” and in 2018, at age 62, he died while having sex in the backseat of his car with a 23-year-old. According to reports, the two had just finished the deed when Zanfanti collapsed from a heart attack. Local headlines called it “The Perfect Death.”
10.
Henry John Temple (known as Lord Palmerston) was prime minister of the UK and one of Victorian Britain’s most influential politicians when he died at 80 in October 1865. The official report said that he passed peacefully from a fever, but Victorian gossip circles told a much spicier story. According to longstanding rumors, Palmerston, known for his still-robust libido even in old age, was in the middle of a sexual encounter with a much younger domestic servant…on top of a billiard table…when his heart gave out, and he collapsed mid-act. Historians debate the truth of the tale. It’s hard to verify — and even harder to deny — given Palmerston’s known womanizing. He married late in life but was said to have maintained a healthy interest in extramarital recreation long after. And really? I bet ol’ Palmy would want us to think he went out like the salty old dog he was, not because of a wimpy fever.
11.
Lastly, legendary Australian cricketer Shane Warne died in March 2022 from a massive heart attack while on a lads’ weekend in Thailand, and the circumstances surrounding his death sparked a whole lot of whispers. Paramedics reportedly discovered in his room three types of sex-enhancing drugs — including Viagra and Kamagra, a super-strength sex drug known as “Viagra jelly” — and CCTV footage revealed that two massage therapists (“massage therapists”) had left his room shortly before he was found unresponsive. Whether or not the sex-enhancing medications contributed to his death, it’s important to know they carry warnings for individuals with heart conditions (like Warne) and should be used responsibly. Warne was 52.
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