Summer of 2010 was the Season of Celebrity Sex Tapes

While official records are not kept on this sort of thing, it seems safe to say that the summer of 2010 will go down as the Summer of the Celebrity Sex Tape, as celebrities including Kendra Wilkinson, Montana Fishburne, Brandon Spikes, Heidi Montag and Fantasia Barrino all found themselves wrapped up in real or rumored sex tape stories.

For some of these celebrities, such as singer and reality star Fantasia, New England Patriot Spikes and plastic surgery star Montag, the news of a sex tape seemed unwelcomed. For others, such as Kendra Wilkinson, it was difficult to determine what exactly she thought of it. And for Fishburne, the daughter of Hollywood legend Laurence Fishburne, the sex tape was reportedly seen as a means of building a mainstream acting career.

The first major sex tape story of the summer involved Kendra Wilkinson. News broke in May that Vivid Video was set to release "Kendra Exposed", which showed the reality show star with a former boyfriend as well as in an orgy scene.

At first, Wilkinson was said to be fighting the release of the sex tape, until it was reported that she stood to profit from it...at least financially. The tape was released and smashed celebrity sex tape records set by Kim Kardashian's sex tape from years back. Despite rumors that Wilkinson's marriage to NFL star Hank Baskett was on the rocks due to her sex tape appearance, during the late summer she announced that she and Baskett were planning to have another baby, their second, and would like to start trying to do so in the summer of 2011.

Montana Fishburne was a willing participant in her own sex tape; in fact, she crossed the boundary from 'celebrity sex tape' participant to fully fledged professional porn star as she announced her sex tape in August. Fishburne said that she believed having sex on tape would propel her to a mainstream acting career.

In addition, Fishburne courted controversy beyond just her sex tape as she said she considered herself a role model to young girls for appearing in one, posed nude for Playboy, angered her father for appearing in a porn to begin with, and apparently tweeted that Jamie Foxx is gay (though she later said her Twitter account was hacked). It also came to light that Fishburne had been arrested years back for prostitution.

Brandon Spikes is a rookie linebacker for the National Football League's New England Patriots. He played in college at Florida, with the ultra-religious and clean living Tim Tebow. But during his first training camp in his first year in the NFL, a sex tape starring Spikes surfaced. He had given advance notice to his teammates that this would be coming, but it still presented an embarrassing situation for Spikes, and brought distraction to his new team as they prepared for the upcoming season that they definitely did not welcome. For their part, however, the Patriots have not issued a comment on the video. Spikes, however, has lost an endorsement deal with Reebok in the aftermath of the video's leak.

Heidi Montag, who once had no less than ten plastic surgeries in one day, is estranged from her husband, Spencer Pratt. For much of August, Pratt was threatening to release a sex tape that he claimed he had that featured him with his soon to be ex-wife.

Then it was reported that he had another sex tape that contained Montag with Playboy Playmate Karissa Shannon. Shannon has acknowledged the existence of the tape and said that she is demanding it back from Pratt. She also claims that Pratt has possession of a sex tape featuring her with her boyfriend, Sam Jones. She claims that Pratt stole the sex tape from her house.

Yet another reality television star, Fantasia Barrino, who is also a singer and former American Idol champion, had a very difficult summer that also involved, at least in part, a sex tape. It seems that Barrino, who is often referred to simply as Fantasia, has been involved with a married man named Antwaun Cook.

Cook's wife, Paula, sued him for divorce this summer and named Fantasia as 'the other woman'. Among several allegations, Paula Cook said that her husband and Fantasia made a sex tape together. Days after the lawsuit was made public, Fantasia attempted suicide, but thankfully survived.

Many questioned the timing of the whole thing as Fantasia has a reality show and new album to promote. There is no word yet as to whether or not the sex tape will be leaked, though with the preponderance of Porn 2.0 websites out there, it seems likely that if the Fantasia sex tape exists, it will be seen by millions.

While it is never smart to bet against celebrities' involvement in sex tapes, it would seem unlikely that the summer of 2011 will be eventful as this summer was when it comes to them. For Montana Fishburne, Heidi Montag, Brandon Spikes, Kendra Wilkinson, and Fantasia Barrino, this was the summer of the celebrity sex tape.

Sources:

Staff, "Sex tape fallout for Brandon Spikes: Reebok pulls away from proposed marketing deal", bostonherald.com
TMZ Staff, "Playmate to Spencer -- Gimme Back My XXX Tape", tmz.com