News Analysis India

Tag: MeToo movement

  • Prosecutor says Kevin Spacey used celebrity status for ‘opportunity grab’ described by accusers

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: It was more than a coincidence that three of Kevin Spacey’s four accusers described similar crotch-grabbing incidents, a prosecutor said Wednesday in her closing argument at his sexual assault trial.

    Prosecutor Christine Agnew told a London jury that Spacey seized brief moments for an “opportunity grab” and was able to get away with it for years because he was a celebrity.

    The two-time Oscar winner long had benefited from a “trinity of protection,” knowing that men he attacked would not complain. If they did, he knew they wouldn’t be believed; if they were believed, he knew authorities wouldn’t take action because of his status, Agnew said.

    That began to change after allegations in the U.S. arose in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement when a fellow American actor accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior decades earlier. Other allegations followed and eventually led the four men, who did not know each other, to independently complain to the English police.

    “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant?” Agnew said in quoting a snippet of Spacey’s testimony. “Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They’re no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly.”

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Originally he had faced 13 charges but the judge on Wednesday removed four counts that duplicated the same allegations under an older statute.

    The actor testified over two days and denied sexually assaulting three men. He said he had consensual encounters with two and downplayed crotch-grabbing allegations by a third man as a “clumsy pass.” He said allegations he made racially insensitive remarks to a fourth man and violently grabbed his private parts like a striking cobra were “pure fantasy.”

    The acts alleged between 2001 and 2013 escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing an oral sex act on an unconscious man.

    The defense has cast doubt on the accounts of the accusers and suggested they were motivated by money. Two of the men have filed lawsuits against Spacey and a third man reached out through Spacey’s website seeking to settle the criminal case.

    Spacey presented photos one of the men had posted on social media of the two of them and a photo that man sent him from a mountain trek he took where he claimed to have read a Shakespeare soliloquy at Spacey’s suggestion from atop a peak.

    Other defense witnesses said Spacey would have had little or no opportunity to assault a man backstage at a charity event, as the alleged victim claimed.

    LONDON: It was more than a coincidence that three of Kevin Spacey’s four accusers described similar crotch-grabbing incidents, a prosecutor said Wednesday in her closing argument at his sexual assault trial.

    Prosecutor Christine Agnew told a London jury that Spacey seized brief moments for an “opportunity grab” and was able to get away with it for years because he was a celebrity.

    The two-time Oscar winner long had benefited from a “trinity of protection,” knowing that men he attacked would not complain. If they did, he knew they wouldn’t be believed; if they were believed, he knew authorities wouldn’t take action because of his status, Agnew said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    That began to change after allegations in the U.S. arose in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement when a fellow American actor accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior decades earlier. Other allegations followed and eventually led the four men, who did not know each other, to independently complain to the English police.

    “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant?” Agnew said in quoting a snippet of Spacey’s testimony. “Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They’re no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly.”

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Originally he had faced 13 charges but the judge on Wednesday removed four counts that duplicated the same allegations under an older statute.

    The actor testified over two days and denied sexually assaulting three men. He said he had consensual encounters with two and downplayed crotch-grabbing allegations by a third man as a “clumsy pass.” He said allegations he made racially insensitive remarks to a fourth man and violently grabbed his private parts like a striking cobra were “pure fantasy.”

    The acts alleged between 2001 and 2013 escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing an oral sex act on an unconscious man.

    The defense has cast doubt on the accounts of the accusers and suggested they were motivated by money. Two of the men have filed lawsuits against Spacey and a third man reached out through Spacey’s website seeking to settle the criminal case.

    Spacey presented photos one of the men had posted on social media of the two of them and a photo that man sent him from a mountain trek he took where he claimed to have read a Shakespeare soliloquy at Spacey’s suggestion from atop a peak.

    Other defense witnesses said Spacey would have had little or no opportunity to assault a man backstage at a charity event, as the alleged victim claimed.

  • Former teen performers accuse an agent of sexual assault. They’re hoping it’s Japan’s #MeToo moment

    By Associated Press

    TOKYO: Kazuya Nakamura says he was 15 when one of the most powerful men in Japanese entertainment history forced him to have sex while he was part of a troupe of backup dancers managed by the legendary talent agent.

    At least a dozen other men have come forward this year to say they were sexually assaulted as teenagers by boy band impresario Johnny Kitagawa, who died in 2019, beginning with three who spoke anonymously to the BBC for a documentary broadcast in March.

    The story has all the elements of a major #MeToo reckoning, but in Japan, the response has been muted.

    While opposition politicians set up a committee in parliament to investigate, and the talent agency Kitagawa founded promised to do the same and offered a brief apology, the news still rarely makes the front pages or lead television news broadcasts.

    Kitagawa shrugged off similar allegations for decades. National media almost completely ignored the story, and Kitagawa’s business continued to thrive, even when a Tokyo appeals court found several accusers to be credible in a libel case in 2003. When Kitagawa died, he was honoured with a massive funeral that filled a stadium.

    Nakamura hopes that this time, Japanese society will acknowledge what happened to him.

    “I just want to speak the truth,” Nakamura said. “It happened.”

    The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Nakamura has chosen to identify himself in the media.

    Kitagawa’s agency, Johnny and Associates said in response to the AP’s request for comment that all matters had been placed under investigation, and that it will also help with the “mental care” of those who come forward.

    Allegations were largely ignored for decades

    In 1999, the Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun wrote in a series of articles based on anonymous interviews with former performers that Kitagawa forced boys to have sex.

    Kitagawa sued the magazine for libel in 2000, beginning a four-year legal battle that ended with an appeals court finding that “it was demonstrated that the sexual harassment was factual,” and the testimony of the accusers, who appeared in court anonymously, was reliable.

    In Japan, the imported phrase “sekuhara,” short for “sexual harassment,” is used to refer to all kinds of sexual misconduct.

    However, the magazine was ordered to pay damages over assertions that Kitagawa gave minors cigarettes and alcohol.

    Mainstream Japanese media almost completely ignored the story. No criminal charges were filed, and Kitagawa and his agency remained popular and powerful.

    Toshio Takeshita, who teaches journalism at Meiji University in Tokyo, blames cozy relationships between corporate media and entertainment companies for the long silence. Access to stars is essential to media companies, so they’re often afraid to cross powerful entertainment figures.

    Nakamura describes a 2002 assault

    Nakamura joined the Johnny’s Jr. backup dancers in 2001, after his mother helped him apply.

    Johnny’s Jr. is the first step on the ladder for many aspiring Japanese male performers, a barely paid training camp for dancers and singers. Hundreds of boys practice with the group every year, and the most successful are picked to perform alongside stars represented by Johnny’s. A select few become stars themselves.

    Nakamura said that on Oct. 19, 2002 — he remembers the exact date — he spent the night at Kitagawa’s home after a performance at the Tokyo Dome stadium.

    Kitagawa regularly invited dozens of boys to stay at his home, which had a swimming pool and was stocked with snacks and video games, according to Nakamura and other accusers.

    Nakamura said he was sleeping in a bed with two other Johnny’s Jr. members, lying in the middle, when Kitagawa, then 70, forced him to have sex. He just closed his eyes and prayed it would be over. The other two boys kept quiet, sleeping or feigning sleep.

    The following day, Nakamura said, Kitagawa handed him one or two 10,000 yen ($125 at the time) bills. He refused, but Kitagawa squeezed the money into his hand.

    He performed again that evening. “When you’re on stage at the Tokyo Dome, the view of the penlights is so beautiful,” he said. “It was still so beautiful, but I couldn’t feel the joy.”

    He stopped going to the dance lessons.

    For years, Nakamura felt ashamed and told only a few close friends and his mother.

    He said that he decided to break his silence after another accuser came forward earlier this year. Kauan Okamoto alleged in a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo that Kitagawa forced him to have sex repeatedly, a month after the BBC’s documentary aired. Okamoto was the first person in decades to accuse Kitagawa without anonymity.

    Okamato said he was assaulted beginning in 2012, a decade after Nakamura. It made Nakamura regret not coming forward sooner.

    He gave an interview to Shukan Bunshun in June, and was asked to speak to the committee in parliament later that month.

    Frustrating apologies

    In May, following a new series of public allegations and the start of a parliamentary investigation, the new head of Johnny’s apologized to fans in a YouTube video. Company President Julie Keiko Fujishima also hired former prosecutor Makoto Hayashi to head a three-person investigation.

    Hayashi said that the company is not considering monetary compensation, but he said the investigation will move forward with the assumption the sexual assault took place.

    But Nakamura said he couldn’t reach the investigators.

    He filled out a form on the company’s website to take part in the investigation, he said, and was given a time for a phone call with an administrative assistant, which led to another call, and then an email about scheduling yet another, still not with Hayashi or his team. Nakamura gave up after two weeks of back and forth.

    Hayashi declined to be interviewed for this story, and said he did not have a timeline for completing the investigation.

    Nakamura said he was planning Japan’s equivalent of a class action with several others. Details were still undecided, and the case’s legal prospects are even more uncertain.

    “This is not about winning or losing. It’s important we raise our voices,” he said.

    Accusers hope renewed attention will change attitudes

    Kitagawa’s accusers, and others, are hoping that more attention will lead to changes in Japanese society.

    Japan has been criticized by the U.N. for not doing enough to protect children, amid widespread reports of corporal punishment, neglect and sexual abuse by adults, including parents and teachers.

    A legal revision that officially banned violence against children kicked in only three years ago. Last month, Japan raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16.

    Both Nakamura and Okamoto have testified in parliament, although the opposition, in charge of the investigation, is greatly outnumbered by the ruling coalition and has little power on its own to change legislation.

    Okamoto gathered more than 40,000 signatures on a petition to demand tougher laws to protect children, which he submitted to parliament last month.

    Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer who defended Shukan Bunshun in the libel lawsuit and is giving legal advice to Nakamura and other accusers, said the case could be a turning point in Japanese attitudes.

    But he’s been disappointed before.

    During the trial, Kitamura said, “I felt: We got him.”

    Now, decades later, he’s again helping Nakamura and others seek resolution.

    Nakamura said that Kitagawa’s accusers doubt that a moment like this will come again.

    “We all feel that this is our last chance,” he said.

    TOKYO: Kazuya Nakamura says he was 15 when one of the most powerful men in Japanese entertainment history forced him to have sex while he was part of a troupe of backup dancers managed by the legendary talent agent.

    At least a dozen other men have come forward this year to say they were sexually assaulted as teenagers by boy band impresario Johnny Kitagawa, who died in 2019, beginning with three who spoke anonymously to the BBC for a documentary broadcast in March.

    The story has all the elements of a major #MeToo reckoning, but in Japan, the response has been muted.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    While opposition politicians set up a committee in parliament to investigate, and the talent agency Kitagawa founded promised to do the same and offered a brief apology, the news still rarely makes the front pages or lead television news broadcasts.

    Kitagawa shrugged off similar allegations for decades. National media almost completely ignored the story, and Kitagawa’s business continued to thrive, even when a Tokyo appeals court found several accusers to be credible in a libel case in 2003. When Kitagawa died, he was honoured with a massive funeral that filled a stadium.

    Nakamura hopes that this time, Japanese society will acknowledge what happened to him.

    “I just want to speak the truth,” Nakamura said. “It happened.”

    The Associated Press does not usually identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Nakamura has chosen to identify himself in the media.

    Kitagawa’s agency, Johnny and Associates said in response to the AP’s request for comment that all matters had been placed under investigation, and that it will also help with the “mental care” of those who come forward.

    Allegations were largely ignored for decades

    In 1999, the Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun wrote in a series of articles based on anonymous interviews with former performers that Kitagawa forced boys to have sex.

    Kitagawa sued the magazine for libel in 2000, beginning a four-year legal battle that ended with an appeals court finding that “it was demonstrated that the sexual harassment was factual,” and the testimony of the accusers, who appeared in court anonymously, was reliable.

    In Japan, the imported phrase “sekuhara,” short for “sexual harassment,” is used to refer to all kinds of sexual misconduct.

    However, the magazine was ordered to pay damages over assertions that Kitagawa gave minors cigarettes and alcohol.

    Mainstream Japanese media almost completely ignored the story. No criminal charges were filed, and Kitagawa and his agency remained popular and powerful.

    Toshio Takeshita, who teaches journalism at Meiji University in Tokyo, blames cozy relationships between corporate media and entertainment companies for the long silence. Access to stars is essential to media companies, so they’re often afraid to cross powerful entertainment figures.

    Nakamura describes a 2002 assault

    Nakamura joined the Johnny’s Jr. backup dancers in 2001, after his mother helped him apply.

    Johnny’s Jr. is the first step on the ladder for many aspiring Japanese male performers, a barely paid training camp for dancers and singers. Hundreds of boys practice with the group every year, and the most successful are picked to perform alongside stars represented by Johnny’s. A select few become stars themselves.

    Nakamura said that on Oct. 19, 2002 — he remembers the exact date — he spent the night at Kitagawa’s home after a performance at the Tokyo Dome stadium.

    Kitagawa regularly invited dozens of boys to stay at his home, which had a swimming pool and was stocked with snacks and video games, according to Nakamura and other accusers.

    Nakamura said he was sleeping in a bed with two other Johnny’s Jr. members, lying in the middle, when Kitagawa, then 70, forced him to have sex. He just closed his eyes and prayed it would be over. The other two boys kept quiet, sleeping or feigning sleep.

    The following day, Nakamura said, Kitagawa handed him one or two 10,000 yen ($125 at the time) bills. He refused, but Kitagawa squeezed the money into his hand.

    He performed again that evening. “When you’re on stage at the Tokyo Dome, the view of the penlights is so beautiful,” he said. “It was still so beautiful, but I couldn’t feel the joy.”

    He stopped going to the dance lessons.

    For years, Nakamura felt ashamed and told only a few close friends and his mother.

    He said that he decided to break his silence after another accuser came forward earlier this year. Kauan Okamoto alleged in a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo that Kitagawa forced him to have sex repeatedly, a month after the BBC’s documentary aired. Okamoto was the first person in decades to accuse Kitagawa without anonymity.

    Okamato said he was assaulted beginning in 2012, a decade after Nakamura. It made Nakamura regret not coming forward sooner.

    He gave an interview to Shukan Bunshun in June, and was asked to speak to the committee in parliament later that month.

    Frustrating apologies

    In May, following a new series of public allegations and the start of a parliamentary investigation, the new head of Johnny’s apologized to fans in a YouTube video. Company President Julie Keiko Fujishima also hired former prosecutor Makoto Hayashi to head a three-person investigation.

    Hayashi said that the company is not considering monetary compensation, but he said the investigation will move forward with the assumption the sexual assault took place.

    But Nakamura said he couldn’t reach the investigators.

    He filled out a form on the company’s website to take part in the investigation, he said, and was given a time for a phone call with an administrative assistant, which led to another call, and then an email about scheduling yet another, still not with Hayashi or his team. Nakamura gave up after two weeks of back and forth.

    Hayashi declined to be interviewed for this story, and said he did not have a timeline for completing the investigation.

    Nakamura said he was planning Japan’s equivalent of a class action with several others. Details were still undecided, and the case’s legal prospects are even more uncertain.

    “This is not about winning or losing. It’s important we raise our voices,” he said.

    Accusers hope renewed attention will change attitudes

    Kitagawa’s accusers, and others, are hoping that more attention will lead to changes in Japanese society.

    Japan has been criticized by the U.N. for not doing enough to protect children, amid widespread reports of corporal punishment, neglect and sexual abuse by adults, including parents and teachers.

    A legal revision that officially banned violence against children kicked in only three years ago. Last month, Japan raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16.

    Both Nakamura and Okamoto have testified in parliament, although the opposition, in charge of the investigation, is greatly outnumbered by the ruling coalition and has little power on its own to change legislation.

    Okamoto gathered more than 40,000 signatures on a petition to demand tougher laws to protect children, which he submitted to parliament last month.

    Yoichi Kitamura, a lawyer who defended Shukan Bunshun in the libel lawsuit and is giving legal advice to Nakamura and other accusers, said the case could be a turning point in Japanese attitudes.

    But he’s been disappointed before.

    During the trial, Kitamura said, “I felt: We got him.”

    Now, decades later, he’s again helping Nakamura and others seek resolution.

    Nakamura said that Kitagawa’s accusers doubt that a moment like this will come again.

    “We all feel that this is our last chance,” he said.

  • Tom Sizemore, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ actor, dies at 61

    By Associated Press

    BURBANK, Calif.: Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, died Friday at age 61.

    The actor had suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager Charles Lago said.

    Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and the cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and sent him to jail.

    As the global #MeToo movement wave crested in late 2017, Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003. He called the allegations “highly disturbing,” saying he would never inappropriately touch a child. Charges were not filed.

    Despite the raft of legal trouble, Sizemore had scores of steady film and television credits — though his career never regained its onetime momentum. Aside from “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” most of his 21st century roles came in low-budget, little-seen productions where he continued to play the gruff, tough guys he became famous for portraying.

    “I was a guy who’d come from very little and risen to the top. I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro,” the Detroit-born Sizemore wrote in his 2013 memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.” “And now I had absolutely nothing.”

    The book’s title was taken from a line uttered by his character in “Saving Private Ryan,” a role for which he garnered Oscar buzz. But he wrote that success turned him into a “spoiled movie star,” an “arrogant fool” and eventually “a hope-to-die addict.”

    He racked up a string of domestic violence arrests. Sizemore was married once, to actor Maeve Quinlan, and was arrested on suspicion of beating her in 1997. While the charges were dropped, the couple divorced in 1999.

    Sizemore was convicted of abusing ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003 — the same year he pleaded no contest and avoided trial in a separate abuse case — and sentenced to jail. The former Hollywood madam testified that he had punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel, and beaten her in New York to the point where they couldn’t attend the “Black Hawk Down” premiere.

    The sentencing judge said drug abuse was likely a catalyst but that testimony had revealed a man who had deep problems dealing with women. Fleiss called Sizemore “a zero” in a conversation with The Associated Press after his conviction.

    Sizemore apologized in a letter, saying he was “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life, though he later denied abusing her and accused her of faking a picture showing her bruises.

    Fleiss also sued Sizemore, saying she suffered emotional distress after he threatened to get her own probation revoked. Fleiss had been convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring. That lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    Sizemore was the subject of two workplace sexual harassment lawsuits related to the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which he played a police detective. He was arrested as recently as 2016 in another domestic violence case.

    Sizemore ended up jailed from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after Bakersfield, California, authorities found methamphetamine in his car.

    “God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught,” Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview.

    Sizemore told the AP in 2013 that he believed his dependency was related to the trappings of success. He struggled to maintain his emotional composure as he described a low point looking in the mirror: “I looked like I was 100 years old. I had no relationship with my kids; I had no work to speak off. I was living in squat.”

    He appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House,” telling the AP that he did the shows to receive help, but also partly to pay off accumulated debts that ran into the millions.

    Many of Sizemore’s later-career films had a sci-fi, horror or action bent: In 2022 alone, he starred in movies with such titles as “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers” and “Vampfather.” But Sizemore still nabbed a few meaty roles — including in the “Twin Peaks” revival — and guest spots on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

    A stuntman sued Sizemore and Paramount Pictures in 2016, saying he was injured when the allegedly intoxicated actor ran him over while filming USA’s “Shooter.” State records obtained by the AP showed that Sizemore was only supposed to be sitting in the unmoving car and that he “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car.” Sizemore was fired from “Shooter” and the stuntman’s lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    In addition to his film and TV credits, he was part of the voice cast for 2002′s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game. He also taught classes at the LA West Acting Studio, according to recent advertisements.

    He is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jayden and Jagger, and his brother Paul, all of whom were by his side when he died.

    “I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about,” Sizemore wrote in his memoir.

    BURBANK, Calif.: Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, died Friday at age 61.

    The actor had suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager Charles Lago said.

    Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and the cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and sent him to jail.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    As the global #MeToo movement wave crested in late 2017, Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003. He called the allegations “highly disturbing,” saying he would never inappropriately touch a child. Charges were not filed.

    Despite the raft of legal trouble, Sizemore had scores of steady film and television credits — though his career never regained its onetime momentum. Aside from “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” most of his 21st century roles came in low-budget, little-seen productions where he continued to play the gruff, tough guys he became famous for portraying.

    “I was a guy who’d come from very little and risen to the top. I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro,” the Detroit-born Sizemore wrote in his 2013 memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.” “And now I had absolutely nothing.”

    The book’s title was taken from a line uttered by his character in “Saving Private Ryan,” a role for which he garnered Oscar buzz. But he wrote that success turned him into a “spoiled movie star,” an “arrogant fool” and eventually “a hope-to-die addict.”

    He racked up a string of domestic violence arrests. Sizemore was married once, to actor Maeve Quinlan, and was arrested on suspicion of beating her in 1997. While the charges were dropped, the couple divorced in 1999.

    Sizemore was convicted of abusing ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003 — the same year he pleaded no contest and avoided trial in a separate abuse case — and sentenced to jail. The former Hollywood madam testified that he had punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel, and beaten her in New York to the point where they couldn’t attend the “Black Hawk Down” premiere.

    The sentencing judge said drug abuse was likely a catalyst but that testimony had revealed a man who had deep problems dealing with women. Fleiss called Sizemore “a zero” in a conversation with The Associated Press after his conviction.

    Sizemore apologized in a letter, saying he was “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life, though he later denied abusing her and accused her of faking a picture showing her bruises.

    Fleiss also sued Sizemore, saying she suffered emotional distress after he threatened to get her own probation revoked. Fleiss had been convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring. That lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    Sizemore was the subject of two workplace sexual harassment lawsuits related to the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which he played a police detective. He was arrested as recently as 2016 in another domestic violence case.

    Sizemore ended up jailed from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after Bakersfield, California, authorities found methamphetamine in his car.

    “God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught,” Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview.

    Sizemore told the AP in 2013 that he believed his dependency was related to the trappings of success. He struggled to maintain his emotional composure as he described a low point looking in the mirror: “I looked like I was 100 years old. I had no relationship with my kids; I had no work to speak off. I was living in squat.”

    He appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House,” telling the AP that he did the shows to receive help, but also partly to pay off accumulated debts that ran into the millions.

    Many of Sizemore’s later-career films had a sci-fi, horror or action bent: In 2022 alone, he starred in movies with such titles as “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers” and “Vampfather.” But Sizemore still nabbed a few meaty roles — including in the “Twin Peaks” revival — and guest spots on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

    A stuntman sued Sizemore and Paramount Pictures in 2016, saying he was injured when the allegedly intoxicated actor ran him over while filming USA’s “Shooter.” State records obtained by the AP showed that Sizemore was only supposed to be sitting in the unmoving car and that he “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car.” Sizemore was fired from “Shooter” and the stuntman’s lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    In addition to his film and TV credits, he was part of the voice cast for 2002′s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game. He also taught classes at the LA West Acting Studio, according to recent advertisements.

    He is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jayden and Jagger, and his brother Paul, all of whom were by his side when he died.

    “I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about,” Sizemore wrote in his memoir.

  • Tom Sizemore, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ actor, dies at 61

    By Associated Press

    BURBANK, Calif.: Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, died Friday at age 61.

    The actor had suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager Charles Lago said.

    Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and the cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and sent him to jail.

    As the global #MeToo movement wave crested in late 2017, Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003. He called the allegations “highly disturbing,” saying he would never inappropriately touch a child. Charges were not filed.

    Despite the raft of legal trouble, Sizemore had scores of steady film and television credits — though his career never regained its onetime momentum. Aside from “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” most of his 21st century roles came in low-budget, little-seen productions where he continued to play the gruff, tough guys he became famous for portraying.

    “I was a guy who’d come from very little and risen to the top. I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro,” the Detroit-born Sizemore wrote in his 2013 memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.” “And now I had absolutely nothing.”

    The book’s title was taken from a line uttered by his character in “Saving Private Ryan,” a role for which he garnered Oscar buzz. But he wrote that success turned him into a “spoiled movie star,” an “arrogant fool” and eventually “a hope-to-die addict.”

    He racked up a string of domestic violence arrests. Sizemore was married once, to actor Maeve Quinlan, and was arrested on suspicion of beating her in 1997. While the charges were dropped, the couple divorced in 1999.

    Sizemore was convicted of abusing ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003 — the same year he pleaded no contest and avoided trial in a separate abuse case — and sentenced to jail. The former Hollywood madam testified that he had punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel, and beaten her in New York to the point where they couldn’t attend the “Black Hawk Down” premiere.

    The sentencing judge said drug abuse was likely a catalyst but that testimony had revealed a man who had deep problems dealing with women. Fleiss called Sizemore “a zero” in a conversation with The Associated Press after his conviction.

    Sizemore apologized in a letter, saying he was “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life, though he later denied abusing her and accused her of faking a picture showing her bruises.

    Fleiss also sued Sizemore, saying she suffered emotional distress after he threatened to get her own probation revoked. Fleiss had been convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring. That lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    Sizemore was the subject of two workplace sexual harassment lawsuits related to the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which he played a police detective. He was arrested as recently as 2016 in another domestic violence case.

    Sizemore ended up jailed from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after Bakersfield, California, authorities found methamphetamine in his car.

    “God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught,” Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview.

    Sizemore told the AP in 2013 that he believed his dependency was related to the trappings of success. He struggled to maintain his emotional composure as he described a low point looking in the mirror: “I looked like I was 100 years old. I had no relationship with my kids; I had no work to speak off. I was living in squat.”

    He appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House,” telling the AP that he did the shows to receive help, but also partly to pay off accumulated debts that ran into the millions.

    Many of Sizemore’s later-career films had a sci-fi, horror or action bent: In 2022 alone, he starred in movies with such titles as “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers” and “Vampfather.” But Sizemore still nabbed a few meaty roles — including in the “Twin Peaks” revival — and guest spots on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

    A stuntman sued Sizemore and Paramount Pictures in 2016, saying he was injured when the allegedly intoxicated actor ran him over while filming USA’s “Shooter.” State records obtained by the AP showed that Sizemore was only supposed to be sitting in the unmoving car and that he “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car.” Sizemore was fired from “Shooter” and the stuntman’s lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    In addition to his film and TV credits, he was part of the voice cast for 2002′s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game. He also taught classes at the LA West Acting Studio, according to recent advertisements.

    He is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jayden and Jagger, and his brother Paul, all of whom were by his side when he died.

    “I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about,” Sizemore wrote in his memoir.

    BURBANK, Calif.: Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, died Friday at age 61.

    The actor had suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager Charles Lago said.

    Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and the cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and sent him to jail.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    As the global #MeToo movement wave crested in late 2017, Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003. He called the allegations “highly disturbing,” saying he would never inappropriately touch a child. Charges were not filed.

    Despite the raft of legal trouble, Sizemore had scores of steady film and television credits — though his career never regained its onetime momentum. Aside from “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” most of his 21st century roles came in low-budget, little-seen productions where he continued to play the gruff, tough guys he became famous for portraying.

    “I was a guy who’d come from very little and risen to the top. I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro,” the Detroit-born Sizemore wrote in his 2013 memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.” “And now I had absolutely nothing.”

    The book’s title was taken from a line uttered by his character in “Saving Private Ryan,” a role for which he garnered Oscar buzz. But he wrote that success turned him into a “spoiled movie star,” an “arrogant fool” and eventually “a hope-to-die addict.”

    He racked up a string of domestic violence arrests. Sizemore was married once, to actor Maeve Quinlan, and was arrested on suspicion of beating her in 1997. While the charges were dropped, the couple divorced in 1999.

    Sizemore was convicted of abusing ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003 — the same year he pleaded no contest and avoided trial in a separate abuse case — and sentenced to jail. The former Hollywood madam testified that he had punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel, and beaten her in New York to the point where they couldn’t attend the “Black Hawk Down” premiere.

    The sentencing judge said drug abuse was likely a catalyst but that testimony had revealed a man who had deep problems dealing with women. Fleiss called Sizemore “a zero” in a conversation with The Associated Press after his conviction.

    Sizemore apologized in a letter, saying he was “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life, though he later denied abusing her and accused her of faking a picture showing her bruises.

    Fleiss also sued Sizemore, saying she suffered emotional distress after he threatened to get her own probation revoked. Fleiss had been convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring. That lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    Sizemore was the subject of two workplace sexual harassment lawsuits related to the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which he played a police detective. He was arrested as recently as 2016 in another domestic violence case.

    Sizemore ended up jailed from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after Bakersfield, California, authorities found methamphetamine in his car.

    “God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught,” Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview.

    Sizemore told the AP in 2013 that he believed his dependency was related to the trappings of success. He struggled to maintain his emotional composure as he described a low point looking in the mirror: “I looked like I was 100 years old. I had no relationship with my kids; I had no work to speak off. I was living in squat.”

    He appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House,” telling the AP that he did the shows to receive help, but also partly to pay off accumulated debts that ran into the millions.

    Many of Sizemore’s later-career films had a sci-fi, horror or action bent: In 2022 alone, he starred in movies with such titles as “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers” and “Vampfather.” But Sizemore still nabbed a few meaty roles — including in the “Twin Peaks” revival — and guest spots on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

    A stuntman sued Sizemore and Paramount Pictures in 2016, saying he was injured when the allegedly intoxicated actor ran him over while filming USA’s “Shooter.” State records obtained by the AP showed that Sizemore was only supposed to be sitting in the unmoving car and that he “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car.” Sizemore was fired from “Shooter” and the stuntman’s lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

    In addition to his film and TV credits, he was part of the voice cast for 2002′s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game. He also taught classes at the LA West Acting Studio, according to recent advertisements.

    He is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jayden and Jagger, and his brother Paul, all of whom were by his side when he died.

    “I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about,” Sizemore wrote in his memoir.

  • Sex-scene experts help reshape Hollywood power dynamics in #MeToo era

    By AFP

    Since Hollywood sex abuse revelations ignited the #MeToo movement five years ago, demand for on-set “intimacy coordinators” has soared — but resistance, power imbalances and a fear of saying “no” to sex scenes are deeply rooted in showbusiness, experts say.

    A fledgling industry of professionals who choreograph intimate scenes, provide equipment to safeguard actors’ privates and discuss consent with filmmakers has grown rapidly since a 2017 investigation into Harvey Weinstein forced a wider reckoning.

    “It has been an amazing difference, in that when it was first introduced, there was a lot of resistance from the industry — from directors, some actors, producers,” said Claire Warden, a New York-based intimacy coordinator.

    Warden estimates around 60-80 experts are now working on sets, and she is working with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) to quickly train more.

    “After years of yelling into the void and pushing as hard as we could in the industry to educate,” the industry has started listening, she said.

    Before 2017, intimacy directors existed primarily in theater, and were conspicuously absent in film and television, where actors were often isolated and reliant on wardrobe departments to improvise basic “modesty garments” to cover their genitalia in nude scenes.

    One of the first major shifts came from HBO, which in the aftermath of the Weinstein allegations brought an intimacy expert onto the set of “The Deuce” — an explicit show about the porn industry in 1970s New York.

    Since then, the network has expanded its policy to require intimacy coordinators on all its shows.

    And at specialized equipment companies, strapless thongs, padded pouches and silicone “barriers,” as well as body tapes in various skin tones are all on offer.

    In a recent Variety interview, 25-year-old “Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney said she has “never felt uncomfortable” thanks to the constant presence of intimacy coordinators.

    “It’s a very safe environment. I’m very fortunate that I am coming up during a time where there is so much thought in this process,” she said.

    “Even if you have agreed to something, they ask you on the spot on the day, ‘Did you change your mind? Because you can.’ It’s really nice.”

    READ HERE | Ex Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein goes on trial in LA, where he once reigned

     ‘Predators’ 

    Like Warden, others in the industry argue the progress around consent is long-overdue, while recent events have shown that not all welcome the new roles.

    In the same Variety interview, “Yellowjackets” actor Christina Ricci, 42, revealed that she once informed a movie set she was uncomfortable with an intimate scene, and “they threatened to sue me if I didn’t do it.”

    “It’s not that actors suddenly started speaking up in 2017… We’ve been speaking for ages, just no one was listening,” said Warden.

    “The industry was actively trying to silence those voices.”

    Actors are often taught to ignore or forgo their right to consent, and that “no” is a “dangerous” word, she said.

    “We are conditioned… that you will be called a diva. That you won’t get jobs, that no-one will work with you.”

    Intimacy coordinators also told AFP they are still overcoming fears that their presence could stifle creativity, or expose cast and crew to the perils of “cancel culture.”

    “Because of the historical backdrop of Harvey Weinstein, a lot of people were afraid that they were being perceived as predators,” said Jessica Steinrock, who has amassed half-a-million followers discussing intimacy coordinator work on TikTok.

    Rather than acting as an arm of human resources, intimacy coordinators exist to reduce risk and improve performances in the same way a stunt coordinator does, she said.

    “I think the exponential growth in the last few years has been painful for many but really rewarding overall,” Steinrock said.

     ‘Toxic’ 

    Still, there are high-profile hold-outs.

    Earlier this year, actor Frank Langella was fired from Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” for alleged unacceptable conduct on set including sexual harassment of an actress.

    In a column for Deadline, he blasted an intimacy coordinator’s instructions about where he could touch the actress on her leg during an intimate scene as “absurd” and “ludicrous.”

    “It undermines instinct and spontaneity,” he wrote.

    But for Warden, reading that op-ed, “it is clear that his resistance does not come from lack of understanding.”

    “That comes from a lack of willingness to consider other people’s consent. That comes from a toxic sense of entitlement.”

    And, Steinrock said, intimacy coordinators alone cannot solve the type of harassment illustrated by Weinstein, whose abuses did not generally occur on film sets.

    “The way we treat scenes of intimacy is going to have ripple effects in every other way, about how we talk consensually, how we prepare for things, how actors see their own bodily autonomy,” she said.

    “But I think it’s important that we don’t treat intimacy coordinators as a panacea for all of the power and harassment and abuse of power that’s happened in the entertainment industry over the last century.”

    Since Hollywood sex abuse revelations ignited the #MeToo movement five years ago, demand for on-set “intimacy coordinators” has soared — but resistance, power imbalances and a fear of saying “no” to sex scenes are deeply rooted in showbusiness, experts say.

    A fledgling industry of professionals who choreograph intimate scenes, provide equipment to safeguard actors’ privates and discuss consent with filmmakers has grown rapidly since a 2017 investigation into Harvey Weinstein forced a wider reckoning.

    “It has been an amazing difference, in that when it was first introduced, there was a lot of resistance from the industry — from directors, some actors, producers,” said Claire Warden, a New York-based intimacy coordinator.

    Warden estimates around 60-80 experts are now working on sets, and she is working with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) to quickly train more.

    “After years of yelling into the void and pushing as hard as we could in the industry to educate,” the industry has started listening, she said.

    Before 2017, intimacy directors existed primarily in theater, and were conspicuously absent in film and television, where actors were often isolated and reliant on wardrobe departments to improvise basic “modesty garments” to cover their genitalia in nude scenes.

    One of the first major shifts came from HBO, which in the aftermath of the Weinstein allegations brought an intimacy expert onto the set of “The Deuce” — an explicit show about the porn industry in 1970s New York.

    Since then, the network has expanded its policy to require intimacy coordinators on all its shows.

    And at specialized equipment companies, strapless thongs, padded pouches and silicone “barriers,” as well as body tapes in various skin tones are all on offer.

    In a recent Variety interview, 25-year-old “Euphoria” star Sydney Sweeney said she has “never felt uncomfortable” thanks to the constant presence of intimacy coordinators.

    “It’s a very safe environment. I’m very fortunate that I am coming up during a time where there is so much thought in this process,” she said.

    “Even if you have agreed to something, they ask you on the spot on the day, ‘Did you change your mind? Because you can.’ It’s really nice.”

    READ HERE | Ex Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein goes on trial in LA, where he once reigned

     ‘Predators’ 

    Like Warden, others in the industry argue the progress around consent is long-overdue, while recent events have shown that not all welcome the new roles.

    In the same Variety interview, “Yellowjackets” actor Christina Ricci, 42, revealed that she once informed a movie set she was uncomfortable with an intimate scene, and “they threatened to sue me if I didn’t do it.”

    “It’s not that actors suddenly started speaking up in 2017… We’ve been speaking for ages, just no one was listening,” said Warden.

    “The industry was actively trying to silence those voices.”

    Actors are often taught to ignore or forgo their right to consent, and that “no” is a “dangerous” word, she said.

    “We are conditioned… that you will be called a diva. That you won’t get jobs, that no-one will work with you.”

    Intimacy coordinators also told AFP they are still overcoming fears that their presence could stifle creativity, or expose cast and crew to the perils of “cancel culture.”

    “Because of the historical backdrop of Harvey Weinstein, a lot of people were afraid that they were being perceived as predators,” said Jessica Steinrock, who has amassed half-a-million followers discussing intimacy coordinator work on TikTok.

    Rather than acting as an arm of human resources, intimacy coordinators exist to reduce risk and improve performances in the same way a stunt coordinator does, she said.

    “I think the exponential growth in the last few years has been painful for many but really rewarding overall,” Steinrock said.

     ‘Toxic’ 

    Still, there are high-profile hold-outs.

    Earlier this year, actor Frank Langella was fired from Netflix’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” for alleged unacceptable conduct on set including sexual harassment of an actress.

    In a column for Deadline, he blasted an intimacy coordinator’s instructions about where he could touch the actress on her leg during an intimate scene as “absurd” and “ludicrous.”

    “It undermines instinct and spontaneity,” he wrote.

    But for Warden, reading that op-ed, “it is clear that his resistance does not come from lack of understanding.”

    “That comes from a lack of willingness to consider other people’s consent. That comes from a toxic sense of entitlement.”

    And, Steinrock said, intimacy coordinators alone cannot solve the type of harassment illustrated by Weinstein, whose abuses did not generally occur on film sets.

    “The way we treat scenes of intimacy is going to have ripple effects in every other way, about how we talk consensually, how we prepare for things, how actors see their own bodily autonomy,” she said.

    “But I think it’s important that we don’t treat intimacy coordinators as a panacea for all of the power and harassment and abuse of power that’s happened in the entertainment industry over the last century.”

  • ‘Not guilty’: Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein denies sex assault charges in LA courtroom

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, who recently made his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault.

    According to Variety, in the courtroom, Weinstein appeared in a wheelchair, with his hands shackled to the armrests, while wearing a rumpled dark brown jumpsuit.

    He spoke only once during the brief hearing after Judge Sergio Tapia wished him “good luck.” Replying to it, Weinstein said, “Thank you very much.”

    On Tuesday, the producer was extradited from New York and is currently being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.

    ALSO READ | Harvey Weinstein investigation movie ‘She Said’ to release on this date

    His attorney, Mark Werksman, asked for a medical evaluation during the hearing. He also said he would file a demurrer, challenging three of the 11 counts on statute of limitations grounds.

    The three counts involve rape and sexual assault allegations dating from 2004-05, and a sexual battery charge from 2010.

    Outside court, Werksman said the charges should be thrown out because they are too old to prosecute, and he added that “they are not corroborated by any scientific evidence.”

    Speaking on the subject, Werksman said, “He absolutely, unequivocally and categorically denies the allegations in this case. We are confident that if we can have a fair trial, Mr Weinstein will be acquitted.”

    Prosecutors have said they are ready to proceed to trial within 120 days, though pre-trial motions appear likely to extend that timetable.

    In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault and later sentenced to 23 years in prison. His attorneys have appealed that conviction, arguing that the judge made a series of faulty rulings that denied him a fair trial.

    ALSO READ | I wasn’t deliberately silent: Meryl Streep on Harvey Weinstein sex assault case

    Weinstein faces allegations from five women dating from 2004 to 2013 in the Los Angeles case. He faces a theoretical maximum of 140 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

    In the case, a previously sealed indictment has been announced by the Los Angeles prosecutors, though the existence of the indictment was already known due to legal wrangling in New York.

    The Los Angeles trial has already been delayed repeatedly due to the COVID slowdown in the court system. The courts have now resumed holding criminal trials, though there remains a significant backlog of cases.

    Weinstein’s attorneys had been fighting the extradition since April, arguing that prosecutors had failed to submit the proper paperwork and that Weinstein needed treatment at the Wende Correctional Facility, near Buffalo, N.Y., for eye ailments to keep from going blind.

    The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office have assured that Weinstein can get adequate medical care while being held at the Twin Towers facility.

    Assuming the New York conviction is not overturned, as per Variety, Weinstein would be sent back to New York to serve the balance of his sentence following the Los Angeles trial.

  • Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein denies sexual assault charges in LA courtroom

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, who recently made his first court appearance in Los Angeles on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault.

    According to Variety, in the courtroom, Weinstein appeared in a wheelchair, with his hands shackled to the armrests, while wearing a rumpled dark brown jumpsuit.

    He spoke only once during the brief hearing after Judge Sergio Tapia wished him “good luck.” Replying to it, Weinstein said, “Thank you very much.”

    On Tuesday, the producer was extradited from New York and is currently being held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.

    ALSO READ | Harvey Weinstein investigation movie ‘She Said’ to release on this date

    His attorney, Mark Werksman, asked for a medical evaluation during the hearing. He also said he would file a demurrer, challenging three of the 11 counts on statute of limitations grounds.

    The three counts involve rape and sexual assault allegations dating from 2004-05, and a sexual battery charge from 2010.

    Outside court, Werksman said the charges should be thrown out because they are too old to prosecute, and he added that “they are not corroborated by any scientific evidence.”

    Speaking on the subject, Werksman said, “He absolutely, unequivocally and categorically denies the allegations in this case. We are confident that if we can have a fair trial, Mr Weinstein will be acquitted.”

    Prosecutors have said they are ready to proceed to trial within 120 days, though pre-trial motions appear likely to extend that timetable.

    In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault and later sentenced to 23 years in prison. His attorneys have appealed that conviction, arguing that the judge made a series of faulty rulings that denied him a fair trial.

    ALSO READ | I wasn’t deliberately silent: Meryl Streep on Harvey Weinstein sex assault case

    Weinstein faces allegations from five women dating from 2004 to 2013 in the Los Angeles case. He faces a theoretical maximum of 140 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

    In the case, a previously sealed indictment has been announced by the Los Angeles prosecutors, though the existence of the indictment was already known due to legal wrangling in New York.

    The Los Angeles trial has already been delayed repeatedly due to the COVID slowdown in the court system. The courts have now resumed holding criminal trials, though there remains a significant backlog of cases.

    Weinstein’s attorneys had been fighting the extradition since April, arguing that prosecutors had failed to submit the proper paperwork and that Weinstein needed treatment at the Wende Correctional Facility, near Buffalo, N.Y., for eye ailments to keep from going blind.

    The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office have assured that Weinstein can get adequate medical care while being held at the Twin Towers facility.

    Assuming the New York conviction is not overturned, as per Variety, Weinstein would be sent back to New York to serve the balance of his sentence following the Los Angeles trial.

  • Charisma Carpenter accuses Joss Whedon of unprofessional behaviour

    By Express News Service
    Buffy the Vampire Slayer-fame Charisma Carpenter has tweeted out against Joss Whedon, in support of Ray Fisher. In a two-part tweet posted through her official handle on Wednesday, Carpenter, who worked with Whedon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel, accused the director of creating “hostile and toxic work environments since his early career,” recalling her own experiences on set with Whedon.

    She claimed to have gone through the toxicity Whedon spreads during the shoots and accused him of “abusing his power on numerous occasions.” She then went on to list some examples of the alleged abuse, which included “passive-aggressive threats” to fire her, being “mean and disparaging” about others, and “pitting people” against one another.

    The actor captioned the tweets “#IStandWithRayFisher,” to show her support for the True Detective actor who has been fighting Whedon in a months-long investigation after he complained that the filmmaker was abusive on the set of the Justice League reshoots. 

    In her message, Carpenter directly addressed Fisher and claimed to have been part of the investigation against Whedon. “Recently, I participated in WarnerMedia’s Justice League investigation because I believe Ray to be a person of integrity who is telling the truth,” she wrote. “His firing as Cyborg in The Flash was the last straw for me. Although I am not shocked, I am deeply pained by it. It troubles and saddens me that in 2021 professionals STILL have to choose between whistleblowing in the workplace and job security.”