Conspiracy theories about the whole episode intensified in the past few days as it became apparent that Robert Pattinson was going to take Stewart back.

Chatrooms, blogs and fan sites have been inundated with claims that the intimate photographs of Stewart and Sanders published in Us Weekly in July were doctored.

Never mind the grovelling apologies issued by both Stewart and Sanders within hours of being busted.

Or the fact that Sanders has a wife - who was clearly and publicly humilated by the betrayal - and two young children who will be asking their father some tough questions when they are older.

The Huffington Post jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon, writing: "For an actress who managed to keep her four-year relationship with Robert Pattinson relatively private, it seemed suspect that she could be so careless as to have her 'momentary indiscretion' in such a public place that's known to be swarmed with paparazzi.

"With the exception of drug benders and mental breakdowns, there are few things in Hollywood that aren't controlled by publicists, so it's no surprise that there are conspiracy theorists who believe the photos are fake and the entire cheating scandal was a publicity stunt. "

Gossip and lifestyle website Crushable has been propagating the publicity stunt idea for more than a month.

"From the very beginning I suspected that the entire scandal reeked of a publicity stunt developed in a Hollywood marketing brainstorming meeting to boost the careers of everyone involved, from Kristen Stewart to Robert Pattinson to Rupert Sanders, and yes, even to Liberty Ross," wrote Crushable writer Jenni Maier.

"And in the weeks since the scandal ripped open the hearts of every American, we’ve seen all four of their careers receive a huge publicity bump. Not only do average people now know the names Rupert Sanders and Liberty Ross, but they’ve gotten offered scripts, jobs and everything a Hollywood family could want."

Maier claims that Pattinson's movie Cosmopolis - released in the wake of the scandal - did much better at the box office than it should have and that Ross rocked the catwalk for the first time in years.

Watch the video below and make your own mind up.

http://youtu.be/AssOw0E6Z1M

[Edited 9/17/12 6:55am]

[Edited 9/17/12 6:56am]