20 Regular People Who Tried to Warn Us About TERRIBLE People

20 Normal People Who Tried to Warn Us About TERRIBLE People

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the ordinary people who raised red flags about dangerous, corrupt, or abusive figures before the rest of the world caught on. For this video, we’re looking at whistleblowers, victims, coworkers, journalists, and bystanders whose warnings were ignored, dismissed, or buried.

Floyd Landis

Warned Us About Lance Armstrong

After being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping, Floyd Landis spent years denying wrongdoing before finally admitting in 2010 that he had doped. But that confession also came with a much bigger claim: he alleged that Lance Armstrong and other elite riders had doped too. At first, plenty of people dismissed him as bitter, disgraced, or simply trying to drag others down with him. Landis later filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Armstrong under the False Claims Act. He alleged that Armstrong and team managers had defrauded the U.S. government through the U.S. Postal Service sponsorship. In 2018, Armstrong agreed to pay the U.S. government $5 million to settle the case.

Efrosina Angelova

Warned Us About Armie Hammer

When allegations against Armie Hammer first exploded online, a lot of the public focused on the most lurid details. But behind the memes and morbid curiosity was a woman known publicly as Effie, later identified as Efrosina Angelova. In 2021, she accused Hammer of sexually assaulting her in Los Angeles in 2017, while Hammer’s attorney called the allegation “outrageous” and denied it. In 2024, Angelova published a long Medium post laying out her account of their relationship, including alleged messages, coercive behavior, and psychological harm. Los Angeles prosecutors later declined to file charges against Hammer, citing insufficient evidence. That’s legally significant, to be sure — but not the same thing as disproving what she said.

Sherron Watkins

Warned Us About Kenneth Lay

A former vice president of corporate development at Enron, Sherron Watkins discovered and reported accounting irregularities to CEO Kenneth Lay in August 2001. Enron began an inquiry, but her concerns were largely dismissed, in part because the investigation wasn’t truly independent. Watkins has been criticized for not going public or taking her concerns to authorities sooner, but as an internal warning, her case is painfully clear. She saw a financial disaster forming inside one of America’s most admired companies and tried to alert leadership before the collapse became unavoidable. Watkins was later named one of Time’s 2002 Persons of the Year alongside Coleen Rowley and Cynthia Cooper.

Frank Serpico

Warned Us About Corrupt Officers In the NYPD

Frank Serpico became famous enough to be played by Al Pacino, but before the movie, he was a cop making enemies by refusing to play along. In 1967, Serpico reported credible evidence of systemic police corruption within the department, but little changed. He later helped bring national attention to the issue through a 1970 New York Times front-page story. That public pressure helped lead Mayor John Lindsay to assemble the Knapp Commission. Serpico’s warning came at a serious cost. In 1971, he was shot during an arrest in Brooklyn under suspicious circumstances. He survived, testified before the Knapp Commission, and became a symbol of what happens when an honest person challenges a corrupt system from inside it.

Joseph C. Wilson

Warned Us About George W. Bush

In 2002, Joe Wilson traveled to Niger at the CIA’s request to examine claims that Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase yellowcake uranium. After interviewing officials, Wilson concluded that such a transaction was highly doubtful. Then, in President George W. Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address, the administration included the now-infamous “16 words” claiming that the British government had learned Iraq sought uranium from Africa. Wilson responded in The New York Times with an op-ed titled “What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” arguing that some intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear program had been twisted to exaggerate the threat. Wilson’s warning didn’t stop the Iraq War, but it became one of its clearest public challenges.

Danny Gonzalez

Warned Us About Andrew Tate

On paper, Danny Gonzalez making a video about an “alpha male” club sounds like standard YouTube comedy. In hindsight, it plays a little differently. Gonzalez, a commentary YouTuber known for dissecting internet culture, posted a video called “Terrifying Alpha Male Club,” taking aim at the hyper-masculine world around Andrew Tate before Tate’s legal troubles became impossible to ignore. By late 2022, Romanian authorities had arrested Andrew and Tristan Tate; they have since faced investigations and charges related to human trafficking and other serious allegations, all of which they deny. In 2026, Romanian prosecutors expanded an investigation into Andrew Tate to include alleged incitement of hatred and discrimination against women.

Charlotte Laws

Warned Us About Hunter Moore

Charlotte Laws didn’t set out to become an internet watchdog. That changed after an intimate image of her daughter Kayla was posted without consent on Hunter Moore’s site, “Is Anyone Up?” Rather than dismissing it as just another ugly corner of the internet, Laws contacted the FBI, which launched an investigation. Laws found that many of the images on the site had allegedly been obtained through hacking. Moore threatened her, and she received death threats, computer viruses, and even dealt with a stalker at her home. The FBI arrested Moore and hacker Charles Evens in January 2014. Moore later pleaded guilty to federal computer hacking and identity theft charges, receiving two and a half years in federal prison.

Rita Chatterton

Warned Us About Vince McMahon

As Rita Marie, Chatterton became the World Wrestling Federation’s first female referee in 1984. Years later, she accused WWF promoter Vince McMahon of assaulting her in 1986, her final year with the company. In 1992, she publicly told her story on Geraldo Rivera’s show. McMahon denied the allegation and sued Chatterton, Rivera, and the producers, though that lawsuit was later abandoned. For years, Chatterton’s allegation received limited attention, partly because the WWF was surrounded by other scandals at the time. Then, in 2022, her account resurfaced amid new misconduct allegations involving McMahon. Wrestler Leonard Inzitari corroborated her story in New York Magazine, and Chatterton later filed a lawsuit seeking $11.75 million. McMahon settled while maintaining his innocence.

Marko Butkovich

Warned Us About John Wayne Gacy

Few stories on this list are as painful as that of Marko Butkovich. His son, John Butkovich, was an 18-year-old employee of John Wayne Gacy’s PDM Contractors who disappeared on July 31, 1975. The day before, John and two friends had confronted Gacy over two weeks of unpaid wages. After John vanished, his car was found abandoned with his jacket and wallet inside. When questioned by police, Gacy claimed the wage dispute had been settled and that John had left. Over the next three years, Butkovich’s parents reportedly called police more than 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further. Gacy later confessed to killing John, whose body was identified after investigators uncovered the scale of Gacy’s crimes.

Coleen Rowley

Warned Us About the 9/11 Terrorists

A retired FBI special agent and whistleblower, Coleen Rowley became known for documenting how FBI headquarters mishandled information from the Minneapolis field office before the September 11 attacks. After 9/11, she wrote to FBI Director Robert Mueller, laying out how agents’ efforts had been undercut and how the bureau’s internal structure had failed. In May 2002, she testified before the Senate and the 9/11 Commission about those lapses, arguing that the country needed to confront the mistakes to prevent them from continuing. Her warnings helped fuel pressure for reforms, including the creation of a new Office of Intelligence at the FBI.

Martha Mitchell

Warned Us About Richard Nixon

The wife of attorney general John Mitchell, Martha’s notoriously talkative nature made her a political reporter’s dream. But her chatty habits eventually landed her in a nightmare. Her husband was a member of the Committee to Re-Elect the President—CREEP for short—the party responsible for the Watergate break-in. Martha was talking to a reporter friend about the incident over the phone when she was suddenly silenced, and the line went dead. For days, Martha was held captive in a country club to prevent her from exposing the political scandal. After she was released, the Nixon administration worked to discredit her story, blaming her so-called delusions on a nervous breakdown. Today, this misdiagnosis of paranoia is referred to as the Martha Mitchell effect.

Frances Haugen

Warned Us About Mark Zuckerberg

After working at Google, Yelp, and Pinterest throughout her early career, Frances Haugen joined the Facebook team with the hope of combatting misinformation and doing good for Facebook’s users. After witnessing the internal workings of the tech company that clearly valued profit over people, Haugen decided to expose the company’s wrongdoings. Haugen revealed Facebook’s missteps in dealing with political misinformation, hate speech, human trafficking, and many more dangerous topics. She alleged that not only was Facebook aware of the hate, violence, and misinformation prevalent on the platform, but that Mark Zuckerberg should be held accountable as CEO. In 2021, Haugen testified before Congress against Facebook and released tens of thousands of internal documents to the SEC and media.

Barbara Bouchey

Warned Us About Keith Raniere

The founder of NXIVM, an alleged self-help multi-level marketing company, Keith Raniere was exposed by former members of his organization as a cult leader, human trafficker, and fraudster. One of the individuals critical in bringing this master manipulator down was Barbara Bouchey—a financial planner, NXIVM member, and ex-girlfriend of Raniere. When Bouchey became aware of the abuse prevalent within the organization, she left the cult and went to law enforcement. This was a brave risk, given that she had already received threats and harassment from members still active in Raniere’s cult. Thankfully, her risk paid off and Raniere was convicted of his crimes and sentenced to 120 years in prison.

Rachael Denhollander

Warned Us About Larry Nassar

An attorney, author, educator, and survivor, Rachael Denhollander was the first woman to speak out against Larry Nassar, a former doctor who sexually assaulted over 200 young girls. As a teen gymnast, Denhollander was assaulted by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment for her lower back pain. It took Denhollander 16 years to gather the courage to speak out against his abuse. Her bravery inspired hundreds of other victims to come forward in the aftermath. Denhollander delivered a powerful speech at Nassar’s sentencing hearing, after which the disgraced physician was sentenced to life in prison.

Joan Tarshis

Warned Us About Bill Cosby

For decades, “The Cosby Show” creator maintained a squeaky clean image as “America’s Dad.” Behind the scenes, however, Bill Cosby was getting away with dozens of incidents of sexual assault. As an aspiring comedy writer, Joan Tarshis was drugged and assaulted by Cosby in 1969 and 1971. Tarshis initially kept quiet about the incidents due to shame and embarrassment, but when she felt ready to share her story with a reporter in the 1980s, the reporter refused to publish her claims. After Hannibal Buress’ 2014 stand-up routine about Cosby went viral, Tarshis felt compelled to share her story again, this time with far more success. Though his criminal conviction was overturned after serving about three years in prison, Cosby’s career and reputation would never recover.

Harry Markopolos

Warned Us About Bernie Madoff

You’d think having evidence exposing the biggest Ponzi scheme in history might pique the SEC’s interest, but Harry Markopolos’ experience was more like shouting at a wall. It took just minutes for the financial fraud investigator to notice that Bernie Madoff’s books weren’t adding up, and within hours Markopolos had irrefutable evidence of fraud. Markopolos brought his findings to the SEC in 2000, and in 2001, and again in 2005. Each time, he was ignored. Madoff’s $65 billion scheme wasn’t exposed until his sons went to the FBI in 2008. The SEC’s failure to investigate Markopolos’ tips allowed Madoff to continue defrauding his investors of billions. Biggest “I told you so” ever.

Virginia Giuffre

Warned Us About Jeffrey Epstein

While working as a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Virginia Giuffre was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein through Ghislaine Maxwell. This fateful introduction would be the beginning of two-and-a-half years of trafficking at the hands of Maxwell and Epstein. Giuffre eventually relocated to Australia with her husband, and the couple quietly settled and began growing their family. Thinking of her young children, Giuffre gained the courage to speak out in 2010. She began sharing her story with the media, aided the FBI’s investigation into Epstein’s crimes, and was crucial in exposing Prince Andrew’s involvement. Virginia Giuffre passed away in April of 2025. Her work in amplifying the voices of sexual assault survivors will never be forgotten.

John O’Neill

Warned Us About Al-Qaeda

As an FBI agent in the 1990s, John O’Neill took a particular interest in studying the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the rise of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. O’Neill became a leading expert on al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and frequently warned of potential terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. After retiring from the FBI in 2001, O’Neill took on a new role as chief of security at the World Trade Center. When a friend joked “at least they’re not going to try to bomb it again,” O’Neill replied, “They’ll probably try to finish the job.” Just two weeks later, O’Neill’s intuition was tragically proven right. O’Neill passed away during the September 11 attacks, while he was helping people evacuate.

Glenda Cleveland

Warned Us About Jeffrey Dahmer

If you’ve seen the chilling Netflix series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” you’re already familiar with the tragic and frustrating story of Glenda Cleveland. Living in an apartment building adjacent to Dahmer’s, Cleveland frequently reported Dahmer’s suspicious activity to the police, only for her reports to be completely ignored. Cleveland even saw and reported one soon-to-be victim of Dahmer’s, Konerak Sinthasomphone, attempting to escape from Dahmer’s apartment while naked and drugged. Dahmer convinced police he and Sinthasomphone were in a relationship, and they allowed Dahmer to take the young boy back to his apartment. Cleveland’s persistent calls to police should have been all it took to stop Dahmer’s heinous crimes—if only they had listened to her.

Dorothy Thompson

Warned Us About Adolf Hitler

As a foreign correspondent based in Berlin in the 1920s and ‘30s, journalist Dorothy Thompson witnessed Adolf Hitler’s rise to power firsthand. In 1931, Thompson interviewed Hitler and wrote her impressions of the future German chancellor with scathing honesty in her book “I Saw Hitler!.” Thompson described Hitler as weak and insecure, “the very prototype of the little man.” This contrasted greatly with the popular image of Hitler in Germany, as the strong, powerful leader sent to save the nation. Because of her comments, Thompson became the first American journalist expelled from Nazi Germany. She then focused on educating the American public about the rise of fascism in Europe and the violent antisemitism of the Nazi party.

Which ignored warning still keeps you up at night? And who do you think history owes the biggest apology? Let us know in the comments.