Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show Soul Train, which he hosted from 1970 until 1993. Cornelius sold the show to MadVision Entertainment in 2008. On November 3, 2023, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.[1]
Don Cornelius
September 27, 1936
February 1, 2012 (aged 75)
Television host, producer
1966–2012
2
Controversy[edit]
Arrest[edit]
In October 2008, Cornelius was arrested at his Los Angeles home on Mulholland Drive on a felony domestic violence charge.[16] He was released on bail. Cornelius appeared in court in November 2008, and was charged with spousal abuse and dissuading a witness from filing a police report.[17] Cornelius appeared in court again in December 2008, and pleaded not guilty to spousal abuse.[18]
He was banned from going near his estranged wife, Russian model Victoria Avila-Cornelius (Viktoria Chapman), who had obtained two restraining orders against him. In March 2009, he changed his plea to no contest and was placed on 36 months of probation.[19]
Sexual assault allegation[edit]
In the 2022 A&E documentary miniseries Secrets of Playboy, Cornelius was accused of sexually assaulting two Playboy bunnies in the 1970s. The women were alleged to have been brought to Cornelius's house for a three-day period where they were locked in separate rooms, bound, drugged and sexually assaulted. Cornelius's son, Tony, released a statement calling the allegation an "unbelievable story without real proof".[20][21]
Death[edit]
At around 4 a.m. PST on February 1, 2012, police were called to Cornelius's home in Los Angeles after reports of a shooting. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at the age of 75.[2][22]
An autopsy found that Cornelius had been suffering from seizures during the last 15 years of his life, a complication of a 21-hour brain operation he underwent in 1982 to correct a congenital deformity in his cerebral arteries. He admitted that he was never quite the same after that surgery, and it was a factor in his decision to retire from hosting Soul Train in 1993.[23][24] Cornelius's health took a further, sharp decline in the last six months of his life. Former Soul Train host Shemar Moore suggested that he may have also been in the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer's disease by this point.[25][26] On the night of his suicide, Cornelius told his son in a phone call, "I don't know how much longer I can take this".[27]