Kelsey Grammer had one. Lauren Conrad might. Everybody's doing it, why shouldn't you?

CHEER UP, PRINCESS Grandpa may have cut you out of the will, but the publicity from your homemade movies has made you a star

Rihanna isn't the only good girl gone bad recently. Rumors and more-than-rumors of starlets baring it all for the camera have been spreading like California wildfires lately, most recently including Lauren Conrad of the reality TV show The Hills (who may or may not have made a sex tape with ex-boyfriend Jason Wahler) and Vanessa Hudgens of Disney's High School Musical (who definitely did pose nude for some photos that got leaked). American Idol castoff Jessica Sierra has one, and Vivaca Fox just might. Even Amy Fischer and Joey Buttafuoco, who we once dared to hope would disappear into the same abyss as A Current Affair, are each shopping around X-rated romps.

So what's a decent girl or boy to do? Hide his head in the sand? Join a convent? Not at all. While certainly an ill-timed nip-slip can damn you to Tara Reid purgatory or a few sex tapes can turn you into a Bob Crane–like curiosity, we need only look to history to find celebrities whose exploits on film didn't hurt—and sometimes even helped—their careers. No need to fight the natural inclination to capture your private parts and behavior on film. Consider it part of a proud Hollywood tradition! (All links are safe for work, though we can't vouch for the things they link to.)

LOWE BLOW Step up ladies, this butt votes Democratic

1988: ROB LOWE
Before there was Paris's lusty lazy eye, before there was Kim Kardashian's bodacious bouncing booty, before Tommy Lee's junk was on full display in college dorm rooms around the country, there was Rob Lowe's curious slip in judgment. In 1988, Lowe learned the hard way that what happens at the Democratic National Convention doesn't necessarily stay there. Especially if, while attending the convention, you have sex with two women—one of whom is 16—and you tape it. Thus, in one lusty night (doubtless fueled by raw patriotism), Lowe entered the hall of fame as one of the first celebrities to have his most private moments leaked, then commercially distributed.

CAREER KILLER? Well, it's never easy to be a pioneer, and it was a rough road for Lowe until 1992's Wayne's World (which, although we love slimy TV producer Benjamin Kane, was hardly an Oscar bid). The actor entered rehab for alcohol and sex addiction after the tape's release. But Lowe's real comeback was with Aaron Sorkin's West Wing. Congrats, Rob. Now when we look at you, we see 85 percent patriotic speechwriter Sam Seaborn, 15 percent statutory rapist.

BELLE OF HIS BALLS A mustachioed Gillooly, pictured with his greatest gift to humanity thus far

1994: TONYA HARDING AND JEFF GILLOOLY
Jeff Gillooly, husband of the disgraced champion ice skater, decided that it wasn't enough just to be known as the guy who hired someone to attack Nancy Kerrigan in order to advance Tanya Harding's career. In 1994, he sold a "wedding video" of him and his would-be ice princess. Harding allegedly wears a wedding gown in the video, although apparently it was actually a Halloween costume.

CAREER KILLER? There seem to be two kinds of sex tapes in this world: 1) tapes with really famous, attractive people that the public is hungry to see; and 2) tapes with sort-of-famous people that will be watched because they're there. Harding, who had already become a curious pop culture footnote by the time the tape was released, didn't really have a career to tarnish. Her most recent brushes with fame involve being arrested numerous times and a brief and unsuccessful celebrity boxing career.

I'M TOO HEP-C FOR MY SHIRT Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee(Photo: Getty Images)

1998: PAMELA ANDERSON AND TOMMY LEE
The grand dame of the amateur porn genre, Anderson is lady who knows what she likes: sex, rock stars, and videotape. In 1998, Anderson's notoriety skyrocketed from Baywatch babe to sex goddess as a honeymoon video of her and then-husband rocker Tommy Lee was stolen and made the rounds. No dumb blonde, Anderson sued the distributor, Internet Entertainment Group, and made $1.5 million plus court costs. Shortly thereafter, a second, earlier tape surfaced of Anderson with Bret Michaels of the band Poison. Anderson is currently married to Rick Salomon (or at least she was as of this posting—those crazy kids and their knee-jerk divorce papers), the costar in another celebrity porn tape we'll address later, One Night in Paris. He also may or may not have made cinematic magic in Anderson's boudoir.

CAREER KILLER? Of course, the Pam Anderson we know and love today wouldn't be nearly as famous without her exploits on film and in Playboy. But Anderson's a bit of an enigma. On the one hand, she's an author, PETA spokesperson, and former Jane magazine columnist. On the other, her main legacies to this world will be her boobs and the things she did with them. To her credit, however, Anderson never seems to try to convince the world that she should be famous for her Shakespearean acting talents or her contributions to the world of science.