List of -gate scandals and controversies

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This is a list of scandals or controversies whose names in scholarly sources include a "-gate" suffix, by analogy with the Watergate scandal. This list also includes controversies that are widely referred to with a "-gate" suffix, but may be referred to by another more common name in scholarly sources (such as New Orleans Saints bounty scandal). Although the Watergate scandal was specifically to do with internal US politics, the "-gate" suffix has been used throughout the English-speaking world.

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 column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and a cover-up".

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 said to author Eric Alterman that he "may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness".

The 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, Korea, Hungary, Greece and the former Yugoslavia.

The use of a suffix in this way is not new. "-mandering" has long been used prefixed by a politician's name in analogy with gerrymandering ("Henry-mandering" was used in 1852). In recent years, the -gate suffix as a catch-all signifier for scandal has seen some competition from -ghazi, as in "Ballghazi" instead of "Deflategate", or "Bridgeghazi" instead of "Bridgegate". The use of -ghazi is a play on the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack, which despite numerous official investigations into the possibility of government cover-ups, has resulted in no criminal charges or major repercussions for the individuals supposedly involved. -ghazi may be seen as carrying an ironic or self-effacing connotation in its usage, implying that the event described has the appearance and media coverage of a scandal, but does not actually amount to much in a grander sense.

List

Arts and entertainment

Name	Year	Description	Country	Reference(s)
Celebgate (also known as "The Fappening")	2014	A collection of almost 500 private pictures of various celebrities, notably Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, and Jessica Brown Findlay, many containing nudity, were leaked via iCloud and posted on the imageboard 4chan, and later disseminated by other users on websites and social networks such as Imgur and Reddit.	United States
Closetgate	2006	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.	United States
Donutgate (also known as "Doughnutgate")	2015	Singer Ariana Grande was observed on video in Lake Elsinore, California, licking unpurchased doughnuts and stating "I hate Americans. I hate America. That's disgusting." In the aftermath of both police and health department investigations, Grande cancelled her headlining performance at the 2015 MLB All-Star Game concert, citing recent oral surgery.	United States
Flakegate	2000	Photographs of the wedding reception of TV presenter Anthea Turner were used to promote Cadbury's then new Snowflake chocolate bar, bringing scorn from the tabloid press and causing Turner to claim this was not part of the £450,000 by OK! magazine paid her for exclusive access to her wedding.	United Kingdom
Nipplegate (also known as Boobgate, and also popularized the phrase "wardrobe malfunction")	2004	Justin Timberlake revealed Janet Jackson's breast during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.	United States
Pantigate	2014	The scandal involving the Irish entertainer Rory O'Neill saying in an interview on RTÉ's The Saturday Night Show that a couple of newspaper journalists and the Iona Institute were homophobic. The comments were considered by the journalists as defamatory and RTÉ paid a pre-court settlement, which in itself was controversial with questions about the settlement reaching the Oireachtas. The name refers to Rory's drag queen persona, Panti Bliss	Ireland
Portraitgate	2009	Two oil paintings depicting Brian Cowen, Taoiseach of Ireland, in the nude, were briefly displayed in Dublin art galleries in March 2009 as an act of guerrilla art.	Ireland
Sachsgate (also "Manuelgate")	2008	Comedian Russell Brand and TV presenter Jonathan Ross left a series of obscene voice messages on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs during an episode of the BBC Radio 2 show, The Russell Brand Show.	United Kingdom

Journalism and academics

Name	Year	Description	Country	Reference(s)
Choppergate	2011	On 20 August 2011, Nine News Queensland conducted two crosses to a helicopter which claimed to be above a location "near Beerwah", where the remains of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe had been found earlier that month. However, the crosses were revealed to be fake when, the following night, rival station Channel Seven filmed footage of the Nine helicopter sitting on the helipad outside their studios at Mount Coot-tha at the time of the broadcast. Two journalists, Melissa Mallet and Cameron Price, as well as news producer Aaron Wakeley, were all sacked by the Nine Network following the incident.	Australia
Climategate	2010	Emails that were hacked remotely from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia were publicised by climate change denialists alleging a global warming conspiracy theory: the allegations against climate scientists were subject to eight investigations, which found there was no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct, though there was a finding of a lack of openness.	United Kingdom
Facebookgate	2008	In order to promote their university guides, book publisher College Prowler (now rebranded as Niche) created 125 fake "Class of 2013" Facebook groups. After their involvement was exposed, they removed their administrative access from the groups, admitting "It was clearly over the line."	United States
Hackgate (also "Rupertgate" or "Murdochgate")	2011	Allegations that the now defunct News of the World had hacked into the phones of celebrities, politicians, members of the British Royal Family, and victims of crime.	United Kingdom
Mediagate (also known as "Anchorgate")	2012	The controversy over Pakistani top journalists in the mainstream media.	Pakistan
Rathergate (also known as "Memogate")	2004	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 CBS Evening News.	United States
Reutersgate	2006	The controversy over Reuters photographer Adnan Hajj manipulating news photos with Photoshop.	Lebanon

Politics

Name	Year	Description	Reference(s)
Angolagate (also known as Mitterrand-Pasqua affair)	2008	Arms sales to the Government of Angola by the Government of France between 1993 and 2000.
Bebe-Gate	1993, 1997	*Benjamin Netanyahu admitted having an extramarital affair *Allegations that Benjamin Netanyahu chose Roni Bar-On for attorney-general to please Aryeh Deri who was in the corruption trial.
Betsygate	2004	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	2010	UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is accidentally recorded calling a party supporter a bigot.
Billygate	1980	U.S. President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, legally represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.
Bingogate	1999	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).
Bonusgate	2008	Pennsylvania scandal involving the alleged use of government funds to finance partisan political campaigns.
Bridgegate	2013	Allegations New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's administration ordered lane closures from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the George Washington Bridge because the Fort Lee mayor did not endorse his reelection.
Brothelgate	2010	The series of events that led to the resignation of the Irish Minister of Defence Willie O'Dea.
Cablegate	2010	In November 2010, WikiLeaks began to release American diplomatic cables from a trove of over 250,000.
Cashgate	2014	The plundering of Malawian government funds by government officials that occurred in 2013.
Camillagate	1992	Following the release of a tape of a telephone conversation between Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles (Duchess of Cornwall since 2005).
Choi Soon-sil gate	2016	South Korean scandal involving Choi Soon-sil's influence over president Park Geun-hye.
Choppergate (1)	2013	An Indian parliamentary investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption involving several senior officials and helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland surrounding the purchase of a new fleet of helicopters.
Choppergate (2)	2014	An Australian political scandal involving Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop flying from Melbourne to a party fundraiser in Geelong in November 2014, at a cost of AUD$5227.
Chinagate	1996	United States campaign finance controversy.
Coingate	2005	The mishandling of Ohio government funds entrusted to Ohio Republican Party operatives, involving rare coin funds
Coalgate	1992	The mishandling of coal field auctions by the Indian government under the UPA-1. The alleged loss was $37 billion.
Corngate	2002	A political scandal in New Zealand in 2002, which involved the suspected release of genetically modified corn seed in 2000.
Dasukigate	2015	The diversion of moneys intended for purchase of arms and armaments for the army in its counter-insurgency war with Boko Haram to things like paying for Dasuki's purchase of real estate property in Dubai and paying a friend's private hospital complex for "offering prayers" for the success of President Jonathan’s re-election bid
Debategate	1980	A political scandal in the United States involving the suspicious acquisition of debate preparation documents.
Donnygate	1990s	A political scandal involving expenses fraud by councillors in Doncaster, United Kingdom
Duna-gate	1990	A political scandal in Hungary in 1990, with the communist regime's secret service illegally collecting information on opposition parties.
Elbowgate	2016	Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accidentally elbowed a female MP in the chest in the House of Commons, causing the opposition to accuse him of assaulting her.
Emailgate	2015	In violation of federal security and transparency guidelines, Hillary Clinton covertly used a private email account tied to a server that had been purchased under a pseudonym and installed in her New York basement while she was Secretary of State.
Erdogate	2016	After the publication of a satirical comedy sketch by Jan Böhmermann and Neo Magazin Royale, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed several law suits against the comedian, which led the German parliament to decide to discard the antiquated law §103.
Fallagate	2007	Political scandal in Guernsey over an attempt to avoid a political conflict of interest over a hospital extension plan.
Fajitagate	2002	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.
Fingergate	2015	A video emerged showing Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis "making an obscene hand gesture" to punctuate his English-language comments about the financial relationship of Greece and Germany during a lecture which he gave in Croatia in 2013. The video was later revealed to be doctored.
Fangate	2014	In a 2014 Florida gubernatorial election debate Governor Rick Scott did not take the stage for seven minutes after learning that his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, had a small electric fan underneath his lectern, which Scott's campaign and debate organizers stated was against the agreed rules. Scott was subsequently criticized for nearly derailing a debate over a trivial issue.
Filegate	1998	The illegal possession and scrutiny of 300–900 FBI files by the Clinton Administration without the file's subject's permission.
Garglegate	2010	A radio interview given by Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Brian Cowen in September 2010, in which many commentators said he appeared to be suffering from a hangover.
Gategate or plebgate	2012	UK political row, when Andrew Mitchell MP allegedly called a policeman a "pleb", after he was asked to use another gate to leave Downing Street on his bicycle. Mitchell denied using the word pleb; however, he resigned amid the media furore over the alleged comments. Reports later emerged which called the legitimacy of the officers' claims into question and a PC was eventually jailed for his involvement in the incident. This "-gate" scandal is noteworthy for actually involving a gate.
Gloriagate (also known as the Hello Garci scandal)	2005	An electoral scandal in the Philippines involving leaked telephone conversations between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a commissioner of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), with both allegedly conspiring to rig the results of the 2004 presidential election in Arroyo's favor.
Grangegate	2014	A political scandal involving former New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell and a $3,000 bottle of Penfolds Grange.
Gulargate	2013	A political corruption scandal in Azerbaijan involving Member of Parliament Gular Ahmadova.
Guptagate	2013	A political scandal involving South African President Jacob Zuma and the illegal landing of a planeload of guests at the Gupta family's wedding at Waterkloof Air Force Base in South Africa.
Hairgate	1993	Unsubstantiated allegations surrounding a haircut given to U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Hawaiigate	2016	Outrage in Thailand over Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon's 20.9-million baht chartered flight to an ASEAN-US defence meeting in Hawaii.
Intelgate	2015	A scandal involving the manipulation of intelligence reports about the wars in Syria and Iraq by the Obama Administration.
Iraqgate	2003	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.
Irangate or Contragate (also referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair)	1980s	The Reagan Administration sold weapons to Iran and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Irisgate	2010	UK political scandal involving an affair by Iris Robinson MP MLA, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson.
Kazakhgate	2005	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	1976	A U.S. scandal involving South Korean influence peddling in the U.S. Congress. This was the first scandal after Watergate to receive the -gate suffix.
Mammygate	2008	Gloria Squitiro, wife of Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser, allegedly called one of her secretaries "mammy". The secretary, Ruth Bates, who is black, sued the city council for discrimination. The case was settled in 2009.
Memogate (2)	2011	Controversy surrounding 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.
Monicagate, Lewinskygate, Tailgate, or Sexgate ("Zippergate", "the Lewinsky scandal")	1990s	Named after Monica Lewinsky who had an "inappropriate relationship" with the then-U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Muldergate	1979	South African political scandal 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.
Namagate	2015	A Northern Irish political and financial scandal in which the First Minister of Northern Ireland allegedly stood to benefit from the sale of a portfolio of loans and properties by the National Asset Management Agency.
Nannygate (1)	1993	A 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)	2006	Swedish scandal over the non-payment of employment taxes of nannies and obligatory television fees by members of the Reinfeldt cabinet.
Nannygate (3)	2015	A controversy involving Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being accused by the opposition of paying for nannies for his children with taxpayer money. (Trudeau later stated that he was working with the same staff budget as the previous government, and had simply re-allocated some of that money to pay for the nannies.)
NISgate	2013	South Korean National Intelligence Service manipulated public opinion to promote the ruling party and Park Geun-hye.
Nkandlagate (1)	2009	South African political scandal brought to light in 2009 by Mail & Guardian regarding a multimillion state funded private home of South African President Jacob Zuma. The story became more sensitive after the release of the public protector Thuli Madonsela's report titled Secure in comfort. The scandal drove the opposition to initiate impeachment proceedings against Zuma.
Officegate	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.
Panamagate	2016	Ongoing political scandals in several countries, associated with Panama Papers, a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents that provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies listed by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca. In Malta, Panamagate refers to a March 2016 scandal surrounding Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi with a retarded undeclared trust in New Zealand and a company in Panama.	India, Russia, Ukraine, Malta
Pantigate	2014	Controversy surrounding payments by RTÉ after drag queen and LGBT activist Panti accused some anti-LGBT campaigners of homophobia
Pardongate	2001	Controversy surrounding Bill Clinton's pardons of 140 people on his last day in office as President of the United States, including Patty Hearst
Pastagate	2013	Montreal controversy, in which an Italian restaurant was investigated by the Quebec government for using words that do not comply with their language laws, such as "bottiglia", "calamari" and "pasta".
Pastygate	2012	Controversy in March/April 2012 around the taxation by the UK Government of hot snacks such as pasties, where Conservative ministers were said to be out of touch with the eating habits of ordinary people.
Pemexgate	2000	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.
Petrogate	2008	The name given by the press in Peru to the corruption case involving lots of oil, where Norwegian mining company Discover Petroleum and Peruvian State owned Perupetro are involved, which shocked the policy in Peru, and prompted the resignation of cabinet ministers.
Piggate	2015	The name given to the accusation Lord Ashcroft made against British Prime Minister David Cameron, of performing a ritual in which he engaged in sexual acts with a dead pig's head.
Piñeragate	1992	Political espionage and eavesdropping involving Sebastián Piñera, later (2010–2013) President of Chile.
Plamegate (also "Leakgate", "CIA leak scandal", "Plame affair")	2005	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.
Ponytailgate	2015	A young waitress claims Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key pulled at her hair's ponytail numerous times over several months while visiting the café, even after being requested to stop by her and his wife.
Porngate	2012	Three members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in India resign from their offices after accusations that they watched porn during government proceedings.
Pussygate	2016	On October 7, 2016, The Washington Post released a video and accompanying article about Donald Trump and Billy Bush having "an extremely lewd conversation about women" in 2005. In the video, Trump indicated that that he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet during the filming of an episode of Access Hollywood. Trump further asserted that "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything...grab them by the pussy".
Railgate (also known as the Basi-Virk Affair and the BC Legislature Raids scandal)	2007	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 December 28, 2003.
Rinkagate	1976	UK 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.
Robogate	2011	Allegations of widespread voter fraud targeting non-Conservative voters occurring during the 2011 Canadian federal election. Robotic and live calls to voters are claimed to have been made in 200 ridings. Investigation by the RCMP, the Conservative Party, and Elections Canada.
Rywingate	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	1999	Canadian scandal involving then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's profiting from real estate deals in his home riding of Shawinigan, Quebec
Smeargate	2009	UK 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 (also known as Dianagate)	1992	Tape of a telephone conversation between Diana, Princess of Wales and a male friend.
Stormontgate	2005	Allegations of a Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring operating in Stormont (Home to the Northern Ireland Assembly).
Strippergate (Seattle) & Strippergate (San Diego)	2000s	Two separate government scandals and criminal investigations
Thulegate	1995	Danish scandal regarding the storage of nuclear weapons in Greenland, in contravention of Denmark's nuclear-free policy.
Toallagate	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	2005	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.
Traingate	2016	Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn filmed a short video of him sitting on the floor of a packed UK train on a three-hour journey saying he would not pay to upgrade his ticket to business class saying "after all it is the people's money". A couple of days later Virgin Trains released CCTV footage challenging the Labour leader's claim, in which, after filming the short video, Corbyn got up and sat in spare seats with his aides. The hashtag "traingate" trended highly on social media with Corbyn responding that he hoped Virgin Trains owner Richard Branson was "well aware" of his plans to re-nationalise the railways.
Travelgate	1993	Controversy surrounding firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration.
Troopergate (1)	1994	Allegations by two Arkansas state troopers that they arranged sexual liaisons for then-governor Bill Clinton.
Troopergate (2)	2007	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)	2008	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 uses the term "Taser-gate", a reference to the allegation that the trooper used a taser on his 10-year-old stepson.
Tunagate	1985	Canada political scandal involving large quantities of possibly spoiled tuna that were sold to the public.
Utegate	2009	Australian political incident in June 2009 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	2007	Venezuelan-American 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	1995	Controversy around the 1995 rejection of an Indian gambling project submitted by three impoverished tribes in the American northlands.
Watergate	1974	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 August 9, 1974.
Waterkantgate (also known as Watergate an der Waterkant)	1987	A major political scandal in Germany. West German politician Uwe Barschel allegedly issued orders for political rival Björn Engholm to be spied upon, with the aim of bringing tax evasion charges against him; as well as orders to install a bugging device in his own phone to frame Engholm's party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Barschel's guilt was never proven.
Weinergate	2011	U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner's Twitter account linked to an inappropriate photograph. Weiner claimed that his account had been hacked, but later admitted he sent the tweet; numerous other lewd photographs from Weiner were later revealed. In 2013, after he resigned from the House and attempted to return to politics by running for mayor of New York City, it was revealed that he had been involved in another sexting relationship with a woman in her early twenties.
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.

Sports

Name	Year	Description	Reference(s)
Bibgate	2009	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 February 26.
Bladegate	2012	Controversy that arose during the 2012 Summer Paralympics when athlete Oscar Pistorius questioned the size of the running blade of fellow amputee sprinter Alan Oliveira on live television when the former unexpectedly caught up with Pistorius and narrowly overtook him before the finishing line at the Men's 200 metres T44 final.
Bloodgate	2009	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 Harlequins to send in a blood replacement, at the instigation of Harlequins coach Dean Richards and team physiotherapist Steph Brennan. 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.
Bottlegate	2001	Rowdy fans of the Cleveland Browns threw plastic bottles and other debris on the field after a controversially overturned call in the final minute of the game led to the Browns losing the game 15–10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bountygate	2012	In March 2012, the NFL discovered that from 2009 to 2011, a number of New Orleans Saints players and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had operated a "bounty" scheme, illegal under league rules, in which defensive players received financial rewards for big plays, including those that injured offensive players. The investigation also revealed that head coach Sean Payton knew about the scheme but took no steps to stop it. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed out multiple suspensions to coaches and players involved in the scheme. The most severe were an indefinite suspension (ultimately one year) for Williams and season-long suspensions for Payton and player Jonathan Vilma (Vilma's suspension was overturned during the season).
Bumpgate	2014	A controversial fist bump from NFL officials after a running touchdown against the Buffalo Bills by CJ Anderson of the Denver Broncos led some fans and players to believe a conspiracy existed against the team.
Bumpergate	1982	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.
Buttongate	2004	The contractual dispute that occurred during the second half of the 2004 Formula 1 season between Williams and BAR, over who would acquire the services of British driver Jenson Button for the 2005 season. Button's management insisted that he was free to defect to Williams because of an uncertainty over who would be BAR's engine supplier in 2005, but they were overruled by the Formula One Contract Recognition Board in October 2004.
Clockgate	2001	A last-second touchdown pass thrown by Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker to running back T.J. Duckett against rival Michigan came under accusations that the game clock was stopped too early, allowing the Spartans to run the game-winning play.
Crashgate	2008	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.
Deflategate (1)	2015	Allegations surfaced that the rear tyres of race winner Lewis Hamilton Mercedes were below Pirelli's recommended minimum tyre pressure standards in a random check. Although many officials from other teams agreed he should have been disqualified, citing "a safety issue", the race officials determined that no further action would be taken and the win would stand
Deflategate (2)	2015	After the 2015 AFC Championship game, the NFL acknowledged it was investigating reports that the game balls had been deflated. One report arose from Indianapolis Colts player D'Qwell Jackson after he intercepted a pass by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Patriots coach Bill Belichick stated he knew nothing of the reports until the morning following the game, and that he and the team would "cooperate fully" with any investigation. Brady called the allegation "ridiculous". On January 20, sources reported that 11 of 12 footballs provided by the Patriots were underinflated. On May 11, 2015, the NFL announced that it has suspended Tom Brady without pay for 4 games of the upcoming season. The Patriots will also be fined $1 million and lose their 1st round pick in the 2016 NFL draft and their 4th round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. The NFL also announced a 3-day appeal deadline. Brady's agent indicated the penalties will be appealed; he subverted the league process, sued the league and found a judge who ordered the league to overturn the suspension, allowing Brady to play the 2015 season. A federal appeals court overturned the lower court's ruling, reimposing the suspension for 2016; however, Brady had restructured his contract in the interim to lessen the financial impact.
FIFA-gate	2015	A case of corruption and money laundering by officials and associates connected with FIFA, the governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer.
Grannygate	2006	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.
Homeworkgate	2013	Used to describe a controversial sequence of events that took place during the Australian cricket tour of India in 2013.
Indygate	2005	Seven Formula One teams pull out of the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ("Indy") following tyre failures and the inability to come to a compromise with the FIA.
Lleytgate	2008	The sixth day of the 2008 Australian Open featured a long, five-set match between World No. 1 Roger Federer and Janko Tipsarević, which extended into the evening session of the day, and thus delayed it by more than two hours. As a result, the scheduled second match of the session between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis did not start until just before midnight Australian time, and the match, which also lasted five sets, did not finish until 4:33am local time. The second match had been delayed initially as a match between Venus Williams and Sania Mirza had to be played out first, as per the schedule.
Lochtegate	2016	During the 2016 Summer Olympics, US gold-medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte, and 2 teammates, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, attempted to hide that they had drunkenly caused damage to a gas station bathroom, and then gotten into a belligerent altercation with the security guard, by fabricating the story that they were robbed at gunpoint in Rio. Lochte is the best-known athlete involved, as well as being widely regarded as the "ringleader" of the scheme, because he and his mother were the ones who elaborated on the lie. The case became viral on social media sites with the hashtag #LochteGate.
Lunaticgate	2016	During the 2016 Labour Party leadership election campaign, leadership challenger Owen Smith, in a speech to party members in Hammersmith on 23 August, said "What you won't get from me is some lunatic at the top of the Labour Party", commenting about incumbent Leader Jeremy Corbyn and sparking outrage from many. Though Smith later admitted that he needed to be "slightly less colourful" with his choice of language, he said that his comment was not referring to Corbyn.
Moggigate	2006	Italian football scandal. Clubs of Italian Serie A were involved in a referee appointment scandal. Named after Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi.
Napgate	2010	In May 2010, Ken Griffey, Jr., who played for Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Seattle Mariners, was asleep in the clubhouse according to two teammates. Griffey did not deny being asleep and quit the team one month later.
Noisegate	2015	The Atlanta Falcons were disciplined for piping in fake crowd noise during home games in 2013 and 2014. The team was fined $350,000 and will lose their 5th round draft pick in 2016. Falcons president Rich McKay was suspended from his position on the league's Competition Committee.
Ovalgate	2006	The Pakistani Cricket Team forfeited the 2006 Oval Test Match against England after allegations of ball tampering.
Partgate	2008	NASCAR team owner Jack Roush accuses opposing 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.
Ponygate	1987	During the late 1970s and early 1980s, boosters of the SMU Mustangs football program made illicit cash payments to potential recruits, with university officials and football coaches having full knowledge of it. After two former players exposed the scandal in news interviews, the NCAA gave the program the "death penalty" in 1987, shutting the program down for two years, and under strict probation for the following two seasons after that. Virtually all the university officials involved, as well as all the coaches in the program, resigned. The scandal was the subject of ESPN's 30 for 30 series' episode, Pony Excess.
Seatgate	2011	Referring to the scandal over 800 ticketed fans who were denied seats at Super Bowl XLV due to Fire Officials' regulations.
Shouldergate	1978	A controversy that 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 its third-round selection in the 1979 NFL Draft as a penalty.
Sirengate (1)	2006	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.
Sirengate (2)	2014	A National Rugby League match between the Melbourne Storm and St. George Illawarra Dragons ended in controversy when the Storm, trailing 22–24, played the ball ten metres out from their line just as the full-time siren went, and from the subsequent play, winger Young Tonumaipea scored the match-winning try which officials the following day said should never have been awarded.
Skategate	2002	During the pairs competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, controversy brewed when Canadian skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier were denied the gold medal despite a clean long program while Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the title despite making several mistakes, causing an uproar from both the Canadian and American media. It was later revealed that French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne had been pressured by Didier Gailhaguet, the head of the French skating federation into voting for the Russians in the pairs competition in exchange for the Russians voting for the French team in the ice dance competition. As a result, Le Gougne was suspended by the ISU for 3 years and her marks for the long program were thrown out, resulting in a 4-4 split decision. The IOC then decided to upgrade the Canadians' silver to gold, and a second medal ceremony was held with both the Russian and Canadian pairs attending.
Sonicsgate	2009	The controversial relocation of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. The creators of the Webby Award-winning 2009 documentary Sonicsgate coined this term as the title of their film and video series, which soon became synonymous with the scandal as the definitive historical document on the topic.
Spygate (1) (also known as Stepneygate)	2007	Allegations of espionage in Formula One racing carried out by members of the McLaren team.
Spygate (2)	2007	The scandal involving the New England Patriots' videotaping of the New York Jets defensive signals during a 2007 NFL game.
Sodagate	2013	On November 27, 2013, late in an NBA game at Barclays Center between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers with no timeouts remaining, Nets then coach Jason Kidd communicated to Tyshawn Taylor during a stop, "Hit me", while holding a cup of soda. The ensuing spillage delayed the game and allowed for the Nets' coaching staff to draw up a final play as they were down 96–94. Although the Nets eventually lost, the incident caused much controversy among fans and the media, and after a league review deeming the event incidental, the NBA fined Kidd $50,000.
Spingate	2013	Near the end of the 2013 Federated Auto Parts 400 race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Richmond International Raceway on September 7, 2013, team orders became an issue in order to ensure certain drivers would make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer spun in turn 4 on lap 393 of 400 to bring out a caution while Michael Waltrip Racing's general manager and vice president Ty Norris ordered Brian Vickers to pit, both in an attempt to help Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. make the Chase over Ryan Newman, who was leading the race before the caution caused by Bowyer. Carl Edwards won the race and Truex made the Chase while Newman did not. A few days after the race, Michael Waltrip Racing was fined $300,000 while Bowyer and Truex both lost 50 points, enough to knock Truex out of the Chase and allow Newman to make it. In addition, it was determined that Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports collaborated to have Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland give up track position to ensure Penske Racing driver Joey Logano made the Chase.
Tattoogate	2011	In May 2011, Jim Tressel, the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, resigned amid allegations that he lied in order to cover up activities, including tattoos, undertaken in violation of NCAA rules by players he was coaching.
Textgate	2015	The Cleveland Browns and general manager Ray Farmer were disciplined for sending text messages to coaches during games in the 2014 season, a violation of NFL rules. The team was fined $250,000 and Farmer received a four-game suspension without pay for the first four games of the 2015 season.
Tigergate	2010	A series of alleged and admitted marital infidelities by golf superstar Tiger Woods.
Tissuegate	2015	At the conclusion of an April 4, 2015 Major League Soccer match between FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers, Dallas head coach Óscar Pareja taunted Timbers head coach Caleb Porter by mockingly offering him a tissue during their post-game handshake. Pareja was irritated by Porter's "crying" at the referees throughout the match. Porter, whose team won the match 3–1, responded by pointing to the scoreboard and saying, "scoreboard", and proceeded to toss the tissue back in Pareja's face. Pareja had to be restrained by his coaching staff.
Toiletgate	2006	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	2010	During a December 11, 2010 NFL game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, the 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 claimed that "he acted alone in doing so".
Twirlgate	2015	After No. 7 ranked Eugenie Bouchard defeated Kiki Bertens in the second round of the 2015 Australian Open, Bouchard was asked during her on-court interview to "give us a twirl." When Bouchard balked, the male presenter persisted, saying: "A twirl, like a pirouette, here you go." Bouchard reluctantly acquiesced, twirling in front of the crowd. The exchange set off a firestorm on social media, with some fans excoriating the request as sexist and many questioning whether a man would have been asked to twirl.

Technology

Name	Year	Description	Country	References
Antennagate (also known as Gripgate)	2010	The name the media applied to the controversy over the iPhone 4's antenna after initial users complained of dropped calls and Consumer Reports would not recommend it.	United States
Bendgate	2014	Numerous people reported bent iPhone 6 Plus phones, which was later reported on by Consumer Reports.	United States
Dieselgate (or Emissionsgate)	2015	An investigation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board alleging that Volkswagen Group "cheated" on TDI diesel engine emissions tests, by programming the engine management unit to enable all emissions controls during emissions testing, then disable certain emissions controls during real-world driving.	United States
Donglegate	2013	A series of events following a double entendre on the word "dongle" overheard at a programmers convention March 17, 2013, which led to two people being fired and a DDoS attack.	United States
Gamergate	2014	A controversy regarding the issues of sexism in video game culture, online harassment, breaches of journalistic ethics, and political correctness in video game coverage.	United States
Chipgate	2015	Apple used two different kinds of processors in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, one made by Samsung and the other by TSMC, with the Samsung one running hotter and using more battery life.	United States
Shirtgate	2014	Matt Taylor, a Rossetta mission's project scientist wore a homemade shirt at an ESA press conference that caused concern.	United States
Staingate	2015	Anger over reports that the anti-reflective coating appears to be wearing off several MacBook Pros, including mid-2012 to mid-2014 models sold between June 2012 and present.	United States
Pengate	2015	Anger over Samsung's design flaw in the Galaxy Note 5 which allows the S-pen to be put in backwards. Once the S-pen was put in backwards, it got stuck and destroyed the sensors that detected S-pen removal.	United States
Resolutiongate	2013–present	A controversy about the resolution on the Xbox One console.	United States
Hissgate	2016	Some users reported an audible hiss coming from somewhere near the Apple logo of their iPhone 7 during CPU intensive tasks.	United States

In popular culture

Television

• Babygate: In the TV comedy Glee, this refers to the scandal wherein one of the characters, Quinn, got pregnant by her boyfriend's best friend and tried to pass off the baby as her boyfriend's.
• Bingate: In an episode of the Great British Bake Off, contestant Diana removed another contestant's (Iain) baked Alaska from the freezer and left it sitting on the counter, causing it to melt beyond repair. Iain, in his frustration and despair, threw his baked Alaska in the bin and walked off the set. Later, when the contestants had to present their bakes to the judges, Iain presented the bin in which he had discarded his baked Alaska. He was eliminated, with the judges saying they couldn't judge him due to him not presenting them with anything to taste.
• Clipgate: Stephen Colbert's mocking of Fox News Channel's 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".
• Petra-Gate: Episode 20, Season 1 of American sitcom Ugly Betty: Daniel sleeps with an underage girl, Petra, and it is up to Betty and Henry to prove her real age.
• Polkagate: On the fifth episode of the second season of the sitcom ALF, the character ALF tries to rig the ratings for a Polka dance show to save it from cancellation. After he's caught, he refers to his efforts as "Polkagate".
• 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).
• Stargate: In the Community episode "Contemporary American Poultry", the main characters set up a the character "Star-Burns" is accused of controlling a chicken finger laundering scandal.
• Waitergate: In the Simpsons episode "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", a court case surrounding a clumsy waiter who appeared to have been beaten by Freddy Quimby is named by the press as 'Beat-Up Waiter'. Local news anchorman Kent Brockman reports suggesting 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. In an interesting contrast to some real world events, Bart eventually does come forward and tells the truth, and while Skinner sincerely praises Bart for doing the right thing he also gives the student months of detention as punishment.
• Woollygate: In the Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave, Gromit is sentenced to life imprisonment for sheep racketeering in a trial the newspapers refer to as the "Woollygate scandal".
• C**tgate: In Veep season 5, the sixth episode is named "C**tgate" wherein a newspaper publishes a report which says that the POTUS was called a c**t by one of the senior members of her staff. This leads to the firing of three members of the staff which leads to this issue becoming a "C**tgate".

Video games

• Gerstmanngate: Refers to the controversy following the November 2007 dismissal of Jeff Gerstmann from his position as Editorial Director of GameSpot. Gerstmann had awarded a Fair rating to the game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men at a time when the game was being heavily advertised on Gamespot, which led to accusations from many games journalists of a lack of editorial integrity on the part of Gamespot, who denied that the review had been a part of the reasoning behind the dismissal. However, a subsequent interview with Gerstmann in 2012 countered this statement, with Gerstmann claiming that, although there was more to his firing than any single review, it would not be untrue to say that the Kane & Lynch episode contributed to it.
• Doritogate: Two initially unconnected events involving video game journalists Geoff Keighley and Lauren Wainwright are questioned in an article by Robert Florence, triggering a chain of events; Florence's publisher is threatened with legal action, which led to the subsequent editing of the article, Florence resigning, the unedited version of the article suffering from the Streisand effect and the video game journalism industry questioning the closeness of game journalists to the companies whose products they cover.
• Driv3rgate: Before the worldwide release of Driver 3, Atari offered the magazines PSM2 and Xbox World early review copies of the game in exchange for positive review scores. This deal was taken by both of them, yet, due to the disappointing nature of the game when it was released, gamers took to forums to complain about the mysterious circumstances related to why both magazines gave positive scores for a heavily berated game. Many then figured out that Atari had paid both, and as a response the comments were systematically wiped by administrators, which gave way to suggestions of a cover up by the publishing house. This controversy would later be referred to as "DRIV3Rgate" and the affair gained a fairly large amount of coverage in the games press and on Internet forums. During this time, Atari hired a guerrilla team to, in desperation, repeatedly make new accounts and post positive threads and comments about the game in an attempt to reduce the controversy.

Comic strips

• Bedtimegate and Homeworkgate: In the Calvin and Hobbes strip dated April 11, 1988, Calvin approaches his father with "news" that his "campaign" for "re-election" (parodying the then-upcoming United States presidential election, 1988) is tenuous. Calvin tells Dad, "[T]he scandals of your administration continue to haunt you", citing specifically "Bedtimegate and Homeworkgate."

Other

• Horsegate (also "horsemeat-gate"): A 2013 UK scandal in which it emerged that several large supermarket chains were selling meat containing horse or equine meat while claiming they were "100% beef." Further context to this is that, while horsemeat is mostly fine for human consumption and is eaten in countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world, it is rarely sold on the mainstream UK market and is considered somewhat culturally unacceptable to eat in British society.

External links

• Joseph, Brian D. "Yet More on -gate Words – A Perspective from Abroad" (PDF). Retrieved September 5, 2008.
• al-Lughat, Jabal. ""-gate" suffix reaches Arabic". Retrieved September 17, 2008.
• Campbell, Alex. Turning a scandal into a '-gate' BBC News, May 11, 2013.
• Scandalgate at TV Tropes