Rob Lowe's Most Outrageous Scandals Revisited as He Celebrates Turning 61 Sober — Including How His SON Found Out About Teen Sex Tape Scandal
Rob Lowe's partying got him into trouble before he went sober in 1990.
March 18 2025, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Rob Lowe has had a lot of ups and downs over the course of his career.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the actor's most outrageous scandals as he celebrated turning 61 on March 17.
Lowe entered rehab in 1990 at age 34 after battling alcoholism and substance abuse.
The now 61-year-old has been open about his journey to sobriety after decided to go to rehab in 1990 for alcoholism and substance abuse at age 34.
Lowe confessed the road to rehab wasn't easy and included a lot of "baby steps."
He told People: "Getting sober was an incremental decision. It's baby steps until you're ready. You can't do it until you're really ready."
One of those first steps was when he saw Warren Beatty in the 1975 film Shampoo.
Lowe had a sex tape leak in 1988 with two young women, including a teenager.
He said: "It's a great movie, but at the end, he's a bon vivant, charming playboy left with nothing.
"It affected me tremendously and (was) the first glimmer of your conscience, your destiny, God, going, 'Psst, pay attention to this.'"
Another "baby step" was when he found himself at the center of a leaked sex tape in 1988 when he was 24-years-old.
Lowe was seen hooking up with a then-16-year-old girl Lena Jan Parsons and her 23-year-old friend Tara Seburt. The St. Elmo's Fire actor had allegedly picked them up at an Atlanta club before taking them back to his hotel.
Lowe settled with the then-16-year-old's family and faced no charges.
After the tape leaked, Lowe insisted he was unaware that Parsons was underage. He later settled a lawsuit with her family and was not charged with a crime.
But that didn't mean the tape didn't come back to haunt him.
His son John, 29, opened up in 2023 about discovering the tape his father never told him about.
John told Men's Health: "I was in eighth grade or freshman year of high school, and some kid said, 'You know, your dad has a sex tape online.' I was like, 'What?'"
He further explained his parents never spoke to him about the scandal.
Lowe's son John later found out about the tape through a friend in grade school.
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John continued: "I don't think most parents ever have that moment where they sit the kids down and go, 'OK, we've got to tell you something.' A kid just figures it out.
"There weren't milestone markers, like, 'OK, he's 16 now, time for them to learn about this part of our life!'"
While reflecting on the scandal, Lowe later said it was "the best thing that ever happened to me" because it led to him changing his hard partying ways.
He explained: "Honestly, I do, because it got me sober. Sober got me married. I've been married 29 years and I have two great sons, so I don’t think any of that happens without going through that scandal.
“It was one of the reasons I got sober. I woke up one day and was like, 'What am I doing with my life? 29 years in.'"
While the Brat Pack star may have straightened up and got sober, controversy still found him.
His sex tape was brought up again at his Comedy Central roast in 2016.
Comedian David Spade joked: "Rob came up at a time when a sex tape could really ruin your career. But Rob had to do it the hard way – with his acting."
