List of scandals with "-gate" suffix

This is a list of scandals or controversies named with a "-gate" suffix, by analogy with the Watergate scandal.

Etymology, usage, and history of -gate

The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.; the complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965.

The suffix is used to embellish a noun or name to suggest the existence of a far-reaching scandal, particularly in politics and government. As a CBC News Online column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and a cover-up". The same usage has spread into languages other than English; examples of -gate being used to refer to local political scandals have been reported from Argentina, Germany, Hungary, Greece and the former Yugoslavia. Such usages have been criticised by commentators as clichéd and misleading; James Stanyer comments that "revelations are given the 'gate' suffix to add a thin veil of credibility, following 'Watergate', but most bear no resemblance to the painstaking investigation of that particular piece of presidential corruption." Stanyer links the widespread use of -gate to what the sociologist John Thompson calls "scandal syndrome":

[A] self-reproducing and self-reinforcing process, driven on by competitive and combative struggles in the media and political fields and giving rise to more and more scandals which increasingly become the focus of mediated forms of public debate, marginalizing or displacing other issues and producing on occasion a climate of political crisis which can debilitate or even paralyse a government.

The adoption of -gate to suggest the existence of a scandal was promoted by William Safire, the conservative New York Times columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter. As early as September 1974 he wrote of "Vietgate", a proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers. Subsequently he coined numerous -gate terms, including Billygate, Briefingate, Contragate, Deavergate, Debategate, Doublebillingsgate (of which he later said "My best [-gate coinage] was the encapsulation of a minor ... scandal as doublebillingsgate"), Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate, Koreagate, Lancegate, Maggiegate, Nannygate, Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate and Whitewatergate. The New York magazine suggested that his aim in doing so was "rehabilitating Nixon by relentlessly tarring his successors with the same rhetorical brush – diminished guilt by association." Safire himself later admitted to author Eric Alterman that, as Alterman puts it, "psychologically, he may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness."

Widely recognized scandals

Arts and entertainment

• Nipplegate (also known as Boobgate) – Justin Timberlake revealed Janet Jackson's breast during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
• Shilpagate – A controversy in which Celebrity Big Brother contestant Shilpa Shetty was bullied by other housemates on a live feed.

Journalism and Academics

• Climategate – A term used by some to refer to the hacking of a computer server used by the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia.
• Memogate (or "Rathergate") – The scandal over a forged memo about George W. Bush's military record that ultimately led to the resignation of Dan Rather as anchor of the CBS Evening News.^{[citation needed]}
• Hackgate – 2006 – present day, currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. Allegations that the now defunct News of the World had hacked into celebrity, politicians, royal family and victims of crimes answerphones.

Politics

• Cablegate – In November 2010, Wikileaks began to release American diplomatic cables, from a trove of over 250,000.
• Filegate – The illegal possession and scrutiny of 300–900 FBI files by the Clinton Administration without the file's subject's permission.
• Irangate or Contragate (also referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair) – The Reagan Administration sold weapons to Iran and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
• Monicagate, Lewinskygate, Tailgate, or Sexgate ("Zippergate", "the Lewinsky scandal") – named after Monica Lewinsky who had an "inappropriate relationship" with the then-U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• Nannygate (1) – a 1993 political controversy in the United States wherein the nomination of Zoë Baird and near-nomination of Kimba Wood for U.S. Attorney General were withdrawn due to the hiring of illegal aliens as nannies or the failure to pay taxes for them.
• Nannygate (2) – The 2006 scandal over the non-payment of employment taxes of nannies and obligatory television fees by members of the Reinfeldt cabinet.
• Plamegate (also "Leakgate", "CIA leak scandal", "Plame affair") – The revealing, by Robert Novak, of the name of Valerie Plame. Lewis Libby allegedly leaked to the media the identity of a covert CIA agent who worked on WMDs, in retaliation for her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, criticizing George W. Bush's justification for the invasion of Iraq.
• Travelgate – The 1993 firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration.
• Watergate – The original "gate" scandal got its name from the Watergate Hotel, where two politically motivated burglaries took place in 1972. The Watergate scandal ultimately led to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon on 9 August 1974.
• Whitewatergate – Better known as the Whitewater controversy.

Other scandals

Arts and entertainment

• Closetgate – The controversy that erupted following the broadcast of the South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", a satirical parody of the Church of Scientology and some of its famous adherents, such as Tom Cruise.
• Flakegate – Photographs of the wedding reception of TV presenter Anthea Turner was used to promote Cadbury's new chocolate bar, Snowflake despite being paid £450,000 by OK! magazine for the exclusive deal of the wedding itself. The publicity stunt was widely criticised by tabloid press and took further damage to her career, which have yet to recover since.
• Portraitgate – Two oil paintings depicting Brian Cowen, Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland, in the nude, were briefly displayed in Dublin art galleries in March 2009 as an act of guerilla art.

Journalism and Academics

• Gerstmanngate – When Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was fired from his job after giving a poor review to Kane and Lynch. The controversy was whether pressure from Eidos Interactive resulted in his termination.
• Reutersgate – The controversy over Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj manipulating news photos with Photoshop.
• Shingate – 2007 scandal in South Korea in which an art history professor at Dongguk University was revealed to have forged her academic credentials, prompting a national brouhaha and a $50 million lawsuit against Yale University, which had mistakenly said that Shin actually attended the school

Politics

• Altaigate – events related to a helicopter crash in Altai mountains in 2009. Evidence became publicly available suggesting that high-ranking Russian government officials onboard the helicotper were engaged in illegal hunting of Altai argali designated by IUCN as threatened species.
• Angolagate – (Mitterrand-Pasqua affair), about arms sales to the Government of Angola by the Government of France in the 1990s.
• Bandargate – A political scandal in Bahrain surrounding attempts by government officials to rig the parliamentary elections and politically marginalize the Shia population.
• Barkhagate – The Radia tapes controversy relates to the telephonic conversations between Nira Radia, a professional lobbyist and an acquaintance of the (then) Indian telecom minister A. Raja, with senior journalists including Barkha Dutt, the editor with NDTV, politicians, and corporate houses, taped by the Indian Income Tax Department in 2008–09. The tapes led to accusations of misconduct by many of these people. Nira Radia runs a public relations firm named Vaishnavi Communications, whose clients include Ratan Tata's Tata Group and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
• Bertiegate – Controversy surrounding Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach of Ireland, concerning large cash lodgements made into his bank account while Minister for Finance.
• Betsygate – Allegations that former United Kingdom Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith had put his wife Betsy on his payroll, without her actually doing any work.
• Bigotgate – occurred on 28 April 2010 when a Sky News microphone picked up British Prime Minister Gordon Brown describing Rochdale resident Gillian Duffy as a "bigoted woman" while campaigning for the 2010 UK General Election.
• Billygate – U.S. President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, legally represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.
• Bingogate – A scandal that occurred during the administration of former Premier of British Columbia Michael Harcourt, involving the skimming of charity funds for use by the ruling NDP by MLA Dave Stupich (Premier Harcourt was not involved but did resign).
• Biscuitgate – Media controversy over then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's reluctance to declare his "favourite biscuit".
• Bonusgate – 2008 political scandal in Pennsylvania involving the alleged use of government funds to finance partisan political campaigns.
• Brothelgate – The series of events that lead to the resignation of the Irish Minister of Defence Wille O'Dea.
• Cablegate – In November 2010, Wikileaks began to release American diplomatic cables, from a trove of over 250,000.
• Camillagate – Tape of a telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles
• Cheriegate – Concerning Cherie Blair's association with Carole Caplin, and through her to the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.
• Chinagate – 1996 United States campaign finance controversy
• Coingate – The mishandling of Ohio government funds entrusted to Ohio Republican Party operatives, involving rare coin funds
• Corngate – A political scandal in New Zealand in 2002, which involved the suspected release of genetically modified corn seed in 2000.
• Debategate – A political scandal in the United States involving the suspicious acquisition of debate preparation documents in 1980.
• Donnygate – A political scandal in Doncaster, UK in 1998 involving local government expense fraud
• Duna-gate – A political scandal in Hungary in 1990, with the communist regime's secret service illegally collecting information on opposition parties.
• Fallagate – 2007 political scandal in Guernsey over an attempt to avoid a political conflict of interest over a hospital extension plan.
• Fajitagate – In November 2002, three off-duty San Francisco police officers allegedly assaulted two civilians over a bag of steak fajitas (which were mistaken as drugs), leading to the retirement of the chief of police and the firing of his successor.
• Iraqgate – A Finnish scandal involving the leaking of secret documents to Anneli Jäätteenmäki, which helped bring down Paavo Lipponen's government. Later, it also brought down Jäätteenmäki's government.
• Irisgate, a 2010 political scandal involving an affair by Iris Robinson MP MLA, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson.
• Kazakhgate – Scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, who paid US$78 million in bribes to high-level Kazakhstani officials to secure the oil contracts for Western companies in the 1990s.
• Koreagate – A 1976 scandal involving South Korean influence peddling in the U.S. Congress. This was the first scandal after Watergate to receive the -gate suffix.
• Mabelgate – The name given to the commotion around the dubious past of princess-to-be Mabel Wisse Smit, fiancé of Prince Johan-Friso of the Netherlands
• Memogate (2) – A 2011 controversy about an alleged Pakistani memo seeking the help of the Obama administration in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid to prevent a military takeover in Pakistan.
• Muldergate – South African political scandal of the late 1970s in which funds were clandestinely diverted by defence minister Connie Mulder for overseas propaganda in support of the apartheid regime. The scandal brought about the downfall of BJ Vorster.
• NAFTAgate – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff Ian Brodie revealed to the media a document leak revealing that the Canadian government should not worry about U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama's anti-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rhetoric.
• Officegate – In 2001, First Minister of Scotland Henry McLeish resigned after it was revealed that, while a Westminster Member of Parliament between 1987 and 1998 (before the advent of devolution), he sublet his constituency office in Glenrothes, Fife, but failed to ensure that it was registered or that the party issued funds from the income to the House of Commons.
• Pemexgate – Scandal involving state-owned oil company Pemex in Mexico in which funds were used to support a political campaign of the presidential candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party in the year 2000.
• Petrogate – The name given to the press in Peru to the corruption case involving lots of oil, where Norway mining company Discover Petroleum and Peruvian State owned Perupetro are involved, which shocked the policy in Peru, and prompted the resignation of cabinet ministers.
• Piñeragate – political espionage and eavesdropping involving now President of Chile Sebastián Piñera
• PolarBeargate - A wildlife biologist who authored an influential paper on drowned polar bears is suspected of improperly steering a research contract to another scientist as a reward for reviewing that paper. The paper was prominently cited in the climate-change documentary An Inconvenient Truth
• Railgate, also known as the Basi-Virk Affair and the BC Legislature Raids scandal, an ongoing scandal and court proceeding involving influence peddling and abuse of privilege in regard to the sale of BC Rail to Canadian National Railways by the government of British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, the raid of government offices in the provincial legislature building on 28 December 2003.
• Rinkagate – A 1976 scandal in which Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the UK Liberal Party, lost his position and his seat in Parliament after being accused of involvement in an unsuccessful attempt to murder an alleged former gay lover. Thorpe was eventually acquitted, but the scandal and an unrelated personal illness ended his career. "Rinka" refers to a Great Dane that was killed in the attack.
• Rubygate - The prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, is being accused of paying a Moroccan nightclub dancer, who was at that time underaged, between February and May 2010 and abuse of office (very serious under the Italian law) for being related of her being released from detention.
• Rywingate – A 2004 Polish scandal (including the prominent media mogul Lew Rywin, hence the affair's popular nickname) that led Leszek Miller's government to an end and his party's crushing defeat in the presidential and parliamentary elections in the following year.
• Shawinigate – A 1999 Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home riding of Shawinigan, Quebec
• Smeargate – The scandal brought to light in April 2009 by the publishing of secret 'smear campaign' plans made by members of the UK Labour government aimed at tarnishing several Conservative MPs careers.
• Squidgygate/Dianagate – tape of a telephone conversation between Diana, Princess of Wales and a male friend.
• Stormontgate – Allegations of a Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring operating in Stormont (Home to the Northern Ireland Assembly).
• Strippergate (Seattle) & Strippergate (San Diego) – Two separate government scandals and criminal investigations
• Tasergate – aka Troopergate, a reference to the allegation that an Alaskan State Trooper, who was the brother-in-law of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson.
• Thulegate – A 1995 scandal in Denmark regarding the storage of nuclear weapons in Greenland, in contravention of the Denmark's nuclear-free policy.
• Toallagate – A 2001 scandal in Mexico due to the high cost of bathroom towels (around US$400 apiece) bought for the official residence of the Mexican president.
• Taxigate – in 2005, it was the second major scandal to rock the Scottish Parliament after its founding; Scottish Conservative Party leader David McLetchie was found to have claimed an excessive amount in taxi expenses (over £11,000) many of which were for party business rather than parliament business... The debacle resulted in McLetchie's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party.
• Troopergate (1) – The allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton.
• Troopergate (2) – controversy involving New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who allegedly ordered the state police to create special records of senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.
• Troopergate (3) – the controversy surrounding allegations that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee for the United States presidential election, fired the state's public safety commissioner, allegedly for not cooperating with her demand that he dismiss her former brother-in-law, a state trooper. Palin prefers the term "Tasergate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson.
• Tunagate – A 1985 political scandal in Canada involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna which were sold to the public.
• Utegate – A June 2009 political incident around the lending of a utility vehicle ("ute") to Australian Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd by car dealer John Grant, and subsequent allegations of improper favorable treatment of Grant by the Treasury department.
• Valijagate – Venezuelan-US entrepreneur Guido Antonini Wilson arrived in Argentina on a private flight hired by Argentine and Venezuelan state officials carrying US$ 800,000 in cash which he failed to declare.
• Wampumgate – Controversy around the 1995 rejection of an Indian gambling project submitted by three impoverished tribes in the American northlands.
• Waterkantgate or Watergate an der Waterkant a major political scandal in Germany (1987)
• #Weinergate – U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account linked to a photograph of a man's protruding penis beneath his underwear. Weiner said his account had been hacked, but later admitted he sent the tweet; numerous other lewd photographs from Weiner were later revealed.
• Wormgate – 2007 Australian Federal Election Leaders Debate Controversy. A controversial decision was taken during the debate to interrupt the provision of the live transmission signal to the Channel Nine network because of the inclusion by Channel Nine within its broadcast picture of a real time graphical display of the aggregate studio audience reaction to the debate. This graphical display is referred to as the 'Worm', after the form in which it is rendered and an approximately 'worm like' movement of the display within the area of the screen in which it appears.
• Wheatgate – Better known as AWB Oil-for-Wheat Scandal – involved payments by Australian wheat exporter AWB Limited to the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that were in contravention of the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme

Sports

• Bibgate – American Nordic combined skier Bill Demong's disqualification for not wearing his bib during the ski jumping part of the team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic on 26 February.
• Bloodgate – The events surrounding a faked injury to Tom Williams of English rugby union side Harlequins in a 2008–09 Heineken Cup quarterfinal against eventual champions Leinster. Specifically, Williams used fake blood to dupe the referee into allowing Quins to send in a blood replacement, at the instigation of Quins coach Dean Richards and team physiotherapist Steph Brennan, and Williams later admitted that his mouth had been cut open immediately after the match in an attempt to cover up the fake injury. Richards was ultimately banned from rugby for three years and Brennan for two; Williams was initially banned for one year, but his ban was reduced to four months for his role in revealing the full extent of the scheme.
• Bumpergate – The allegations that Bobby Allison's car was modified so the rear bumper would fall off giving him an aerodynamic advantage allowing him to win the 1982 Daytona 500
• Chaingate – An incident during stage 15 of the 2010 Tour De France. While leading the general classification of the race, Andy Schleck suffered a dropped chain on the ascent of the Port de Bales. Simultaneously, overall second placed and eventual winner Alberto Contador attacked the leading peloton of which Scleck was a part. Debate in the cycling community focused on whether Contador should have waited while Shleck's bike was repaired.
• Chicanegate – Regarding McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and his cutting of the Bus Stop-chicane during a fight for race position with Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen to win the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, and the subsequent penalty which stripped Hamilton of the win.
• Crashgate – the allegations of race fixing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, where Renault team bosses allegedly ordered Nelson Piquet to crash, handing an advantage to his team mate, Fernando Alonso.
• Doggiegate - the nickname given to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' salary cap breach of 2002.
• Grannygate (1) – A rugby league scandal involving New Zealand players and their family history. The term was most recently invoked in the 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations series, in which New Zealand was penalised for fielding former Queensland hooker Nathan Fien.
• Grannygate (2) – Controversy surrounding Stephen Ireland, a Republic of Ireland football player, who claimed that his grandmother had died in order to secure a leave of absence from international duty.
• Greasegate – Controversy surrounding Georges St-Pierre, a Canadian MMA fighter, who was seen have Vaseline inappropriately applied to his body, by his corner men, in order to gain an advantage over his opponent, BJ Penn, at UFC 94.
• Henrygate – Controversy surrounding a handball by the French captain Thierry Henry, playing against the Republic of Ireland during the playoff for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
• Indygate – Seven Formula One teams pull out of the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ("Indy") following tire failures and the inability to come to a compromise with the FIA.
• Jerezgate – McLaren and Williams were accused by Ferrari of collusion in an effort to prevent Ferrari winning the 1997 European Grand Prix based on tape recording of the radio transmissions made by the two teams.
• Liegate – McLaren and Lewis Hamilton mislead the FIA Stewards of the Meeting at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix when they were asked if Lewis Hamilton was told by the team to let Toyota driver Jarno Trulli past again after the former overtook the latter when he went off the road under a Safety Car period.
• Moggigate, name for the 2006 Italian football scandal. Clubs of Italian Serie A were involved in a referee appointment scandal. Named after Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi.
• Partgate – NASCAR team owner Jack Roush accuses fellow team Michael Waltrip Racing of stealing a sway bar at a test session. Waltrip later admits they had the part, but it was taken accidentally.
• Seatgate – Referring to the scandal over 800 ticketed fans who were denied seats at Super Bowl XLV due to Fire Officials' regulations.
• Shouldergate – A controversy which arose in June 1978 when the Pittsburgh Steelers were found to have practiced in pads during an off-season period in which such drills were not allowed under NFL rules. The team was stripped of their third round selection in the 1979 NFL Draft as a penalty.
• Sirengate – A controversial match in Australian rules football when the umpire failed to hear the final siren, allowing St Kilda to score an extra point and draw the match. Four days later, the Australian Football League overturned the result and awarded the match to Fremantle.
• Skategate – During the pairs skating of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the Russian pairing of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze controversially was awarded gold medal, jointly with favorites, Jamie Salé and David Pelletier, despite a minor (but obvious) technical error in the former's routine.
• Spygate (1) – See also Stepneygate – The controversy surrounding the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy.
• Stepneygate – Allegations of espionage in Formula One racing carried out by members of the McLaren team. Also sometimes known as Spygate (not to be confused with the NFL scandal of the same name).
• Tigergate – A series of alleged and admitted martial infidelities by golf superstar Tiger Woods.
• Toiletgate – the allegations by Veselin Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov during the World Chess Championship 2006 that Topalov's opponent Vladimir Kramnik was visiting the toilet suspiciously frequently during games. The allegations were never proven, and were widely viewed within the international chess playing community as an act of gamesmanship on the part of Topalov and Danailov, attempting to distract Kramnik at a time when he was ahead in the match.
• Tripgate – During the 11 December 2010 NFL game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi tripped Dolphins gunner Nolan Carroll as he ran down the Jets sideline. The Jets suspended Alosi indefinitely for setting up a "wall" on the sideline and claim "he acted alone in doing so."

Technology

• Antennagate: The name Apple founder Steve Jobs gave to the controversy over the iPhone 4's antenna after initial users complained of dropped calls and Consumer Reports would not recommend it. Widely adopted by the technical press.

Fictional scandals

• Clipgate: Stephen Colbert's mocking of Fox News' portrayal of the way Barack Obama presented his jobs bill proposal with pages clipped together, rather than bound together.
• Flatgate: In an episode of The Thick of It, government minister Hugh Abbot is involved in a scandal surrounding the ownership of a Notting Hill flat – which the press are dubbing "Flatgate", but which Abbot's secretary feels would better be named "Notting Hill Gate gate"
• Sharongate: The storyline in Eastenders in which Sharon (Letitia Dean) confessed on tape that she had slept with Phil (Steve McFadden), the brother of her husband Grant (Ross Kemp).
• Waitergate: In the Simpsons episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", a court case surrounding a clumsy waiter who appeared to have been beaten is named by the press as 'Beat-Up Waiter'. Local news anchorman Kent Brockman suggest it be called 'Waitergate', but was "shouted down in the press conference". Bart in fact witnessed the waiter's accidental injuries while playing truant from school, but did not come forward as he would be punished by Principal Skinner.

External links

• Joseph, Brian D.. "Yet More on -gate Words – A Perspective from Abroad". http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/publications/1992gate.pdf. Retrieved 5 September 2008. 
• al-Lughat, Jabal. ""-gate" suffix reaches Arabic". http://lughat.blogspot.com/2006/06/gate-suffix-reaches-arabic.html. Retrieved 17 September 2008.