S8 Ep818: The Joan Barry Scandal and FBI Orchestration Chaplin's life took a tragic turn during a volatile relationship with an aspiring actress named Joan Barry, who once held him at gunpoint. Barry later claimed Chaplin was the father of her child, leading to a h
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
Chaplin's life took a tragic turn during a volatile relationship with an aspiring actress named Joan Barry, who once held him at gunpoint. Barry later claimed Chaplin was the father of her child, leading to a high-profile paternity suit and a Mann Act indictment for transporting her across state lines. Although blood tests definitively proved Chaplin was not the biological father, a California jury ruled against him, forcing him to pay 18 years of child support. Barry eventually claimed the FBI had fomented the case to destroy Chaplin's reputation, a campaign fueled by hostile gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper. Guest: Scott Eyman. (4/8)
1908 LA
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchewas, Karayman. |
| 0:06.6 | The book is Charlie Chaplin v. America when our sex and politics collided. |
| 0:11.9 | Charlie's a great success with the great dictator. |
| 0:14.9 | He makes a speech. |
| 0:16.7 | Joseph Davies, the ambassador to the Soviet Union, cannot attend an event in San Francisco during |
| 0:22.1 | the Second War. And Second Front is the big story. Stalin wants a second front open. Eventually, |
| 0:28.6 | it will be. That's Normandy, 1944. But the push for the Second Front was widespread. The Soviets |
| 0:36.4 | at this point are counterattacking the Germans |
| 0:38.5 | are hard-pressed. The U.S. is keeping the Soviets in the field with Lend-Leese, but Charlie's |
| 0:44.0 | has to step in for Joseph Davies in San Francisco and makes a Charlie Chaplin speech, all for the |
| 0:49.4 | Second Front. That incident will become important because of what is about to happen to Charlie |
| 0:54.3 | with his libertarian libertine understanding of the world. |
| 1:00.0 | A young woman named Joan Barry, that's her one of her pseudonym, |
| 1:04.7 | comes crashing at his door one Christmas. |
| 1:07.5 | I believe it's 41, Scott. |
| 1:09.7 | I get lost here. |
| 1:14.6 | 1942. 42. And she has a pistol. Who is Joan Barry? |
| 1:23.4 | Joan Barry had been the mistress of Jay Paul Getty in Oklahoma. She thought it would be fun to be in the movies. |
| 1:28.1 | She got a letter of introduction that she could use generally. |
| 1:32.5 | She traveled to California, met a number of movie people, including Chaplin. |
| 1:34.1 | One thing led to another. |
| 1:36.1 | His relationship with Paula God was over. |
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