So often in this business, a story goes viral and receives no follow-up. The initial mystery is reported but the resolution never comes to light. So it was with the 2001 tale of Jack Nicholson’s baby teeth.
Twenty-three years ago, the British TV station Auctionworld claimed to have acquired The Shining star’s toddler chompers. It planned to auction them off on December 10, just about a month after the channel went live. Nicholson, reportedly, was pissed and wanted his teeth back.
There was a lot of coverage of the auction at the time. It ripped through the British tabloid press before making it to more respectable publications like the BBC and Time . The auction was reported but not the results? Did Nicholson acquire what was once his? How much did some weirdo pay for this grim memorabilia? Answers were impossible to find.
But now, thanks to investigative journalist Chris Stanton at Vulture , we have answers to these heavy questions. Stanton’s full story is one of media frenzy, tabloid reporting, and early internet virality. It’s a reminder that people are less likely to double-check the facts on a salacious story they want to be true.
So what happened? Well, it turns out that Auctionworld never had Nicholson’s teeth. A desperate PR flack worried about losing their job made the whole thing up and no one tracked down the truth until Stanton started asking around more than 20 years later. Back in 2001, Auctionworld was a new channel.
It was weird. It worked like other.