Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Argento Settled With Sexual Assault Accuser


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One of the most vocal and visible advocates of the #MeToo movement, actress Asia Argento, has ended up on the other side of the line with a new The New York Times(via Variety) report indicating she settled an accusation of sexual assault with a young actor regarding an encounter both had in a California hotel room in 2013.

The young actor, Jimmy Bennett, was surprisingly named in the report and documents obtained by the paper indicate the claim alleges that the sexual assault happened when he was just over 17 years old and she was 37 (the age of consent in California is 18).

His initial notice was of intent to sue Argento for $3.5 million, claiming that due to the trauma inflicted by Argento, the young actor lost work and saw his yearly income drop dramatically. Before the suit went public he and the actress settled for $380,000. Included in the documents is a selfie taken, showing both parties in bed together. The New York Times has confirmed through multiple sources the documents and photo are real.

Bennett played the child version of Chris Pine’s James Kirk in the early scenes of 2009’s “Star Trek” reboot.....



....and played Argento’s on screen son in the 2004 film “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things” which she directed. Bennett says he has left the film industry altogether and is now focusing on his music.

The lawyer who presided over the settlement said in the documents: “We hope nothing like this ever happens to you again. You are a powerful and inspiring creator and it is a miserable condition of life that you live among shitty individuals who’ve preyed on both your strengths and your weaknesses.”

Argento, who has yet to comment on the report, is one of the many women that came out with sexual assault stories against Harvey Weinstein. She has recently faced online persecution after her boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, took his own life earlier this year.



 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Asia Argento Responds To Times Report


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Actress Asia Argento has now issued an official statement today saying she never had “any sexual relationship” with a man who has accused her of molesting him when he was a minor reports Variety.

Journalist Yashar Ali first reported the statement which follows on from a New York Times report on Sunday detailing a settlement with former child actor Jimmy Bennett who alleged that the Italian actress-director sexually assaulted him in 2013 when he was 17 and she was 37.

Argento doesn’t deny the settlement, saying Bennett was “considered dangerous” by her former boyfriend the late Anthony Bourdain and that a $380,000 payout to him was a way to end Bennett’s “long-standing persecution” of her and “to deal compassionately with Bennett’s demand for help” after the actor unexpectedly made an exorbitant request of money from her while her public profile grew during the investigation into Harvey Weinstein.

She contends Bennett was motivated by his own ‘severe economic problems’ and his belief that Bourdain was a wealthy target with a reputation to protect. She adds Bourdain insisted the matter be handled privately, which Bennett also reportedly wanted and Argento agreed to.

Argento, one of the harshest accusers of Weinstein and something of a poster child for the #MeToo movement, adds that she is “deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false” referring to the Times report. The full statement can be seen below:


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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Gérard Depardieu: French actor accused of rape


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French actor Gérard Depardieu has been accused of rape and sexual assault by a young actress, judicial sources say.

He denies the allegations "absolutely", his lawyer told AFP news agency.

The allegations against the 69-year-old were formally made to police by a 22-year-old French actress on Monday, French radio reports.

Mr Depardieu is one of France's most recognisable actors, and has starred in films such as Cyrano de Bergerac and Jean de Florette.

What are the accusations?
The alleged crimes occurred this month in one of Mr Depardieu's Paris residences, French media report.

The unnamed actress made her statement to police in Lambesc, southern France, after which the case was passed to prosecutors in the capital.

Mr Depardieu's accuser is an actress and author who knew the actor before the alleged crimes took place.

The actress was "devastated" by the alleged attacks, her agent was quoted as saying by French digital news service BFMTV.

Mr Depardieu's lawyer, Hervé Temime, said he was convinced his client would be exonerated of any blame by the end of the investigation.

"I had a long meeting with Gérard Depardieu and I am absolutely convinced his innocence will be established," he told France Info radio.

The actor, he said, was "shaken" by the allegations, which went against "everything he is and respects".

Who is Depardieu?
Able to combine bearish physicality with emotional delicacy on screen, he has played in some 170 films, getting his big break in 1973 with Les Valseuses (Going Places).

He won the best actor award for Cyrano at Cannes in 1990, and was nominated for an Oscar for the same role.

Green Card, an English-language comedy made the same year, brought him further acclaim outside the French-speaking world.

Off-screen, he made headlines in recent years for attacking French tax laws, moving to Belgium in protest and later developing close ties to Vladimir Putin's Russia.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Kevin Spacey: LA prosecutors drop sexual assault charge


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Kevin Spacey will not be prosecuted over an accusation of sexual assault that allegedly took place in 1992.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said the alleged incident was outside California's statute of limitations.

Officials confirmed in April that an allegation involving Mr Spacey and an incident with a man in West Hollywood in 1992 was being investigated.

Another case concerning an alleged incident in 2016 remains under review.

A number of allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against the Oscar-winning actor since last November, when he was accused by actor Anthony Rapp of making a sexual advance in 1986.

Mr Spacey claimed to have no memory of the events but publicly apologised. He has since issued an "absolute" denial of the other allegations that later emerged.

Police in London are investigating six criminal cases against him.


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Prosecutors in Los Angeles have also said they would not charge actor Steven Seagal and TV comedy star Anthony Anderson over two other sexual assault accusations.

The 1993 accusations against Seagal fell outside the statute of limitations, while Anderson's accuser declined to be interviewed.

The allegations against Spacey saw him dropped from Netflix series House of Cards and replaced by another actor in All the Money in the World.

Last month a film in which he appears, Billionaire Boys Club, took a record-breaking low of $126 (£98) on its first night in US cinemas.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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In the early hours of December 31, 1971, Duel died at his Hollywood Hills home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Duel's girlfriend, Dianne Ray, was at his home at the time of his death and discovered his body. Ray later told police the two had watched Duel's series Alias Smith and Jones the previous evening. She later went to sleep in another room while Duel stayed up. Sometime after midnight, Duel entered the bedroom, retrieved his revolver and told Ray "I'll see you later." Ray then said she heard a gunshot from another room and discovered Duel's body.

According to police, Duel's friends and family said he was depressed about his drinking problem. He had been arrested and pleaded guilty to a DUI accident that injured two people the previous June.[9] Duel's death was later ruled a suicide.[10]

Duel's funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple on January 2, 1972, in Pacific Palisades. At the service, Duel's girlfriend read a poem he wrote, titled "Love". An estimated 1,000 friends and fans attended.[11][12] His body was flown to Penfield, New York, where he was buried in Oakwood Cemetery.[13]

After his death, his role in Alias Smith and Jones was taken over by Roger Davis who was previously the narrator over the opening theme of the show. The loss of Duel proved too great for the series to be sustained and the series was cancelled in 1973.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Millicent Lilian "Peg" Entwistle (February 5, 1908 – September 16, 1932) was a Welsh-born English stage and screen actress. Entwistle began her stage career in 1925, appearing in several Broadway productions. She appeared in only one film, Thirteen Women, which was released after her death.

Entwistle gained notoriety after she jumped to her death from the "H" on the Hollywoodland sign in September 1932, at the age of 24.

By May 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Entwistle was in Los Angeles with a role in the Romney Brent play The Mad Hopes starring Billie Burke,[19] which ran from 23 May to 4 June at the Belasco Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Theatre critic Flo Lawrence commented:

"...Belasco and Curran have staged the new play most effectively and have endowed this Romney Brent opus with every distinction of cast and direction. (producer) Bela Blau ... has developed the comedy to its highest points. Costumes and settings are of delightful quality, and every detail makes the production one entirely fit for its translation to the New York stage. In the cast Peg Entwistle and Humphrey Bogart hold first place in supporting the star (Billie Burke) and both give fine, serious performances. Miss Entwistle as the earnest, young daughter (Geneva Hope) of a vague mother and presents a charming picture of youth..."

After The Mad Hopes closed, Entwistle found her first and only credited film role for Radio Pictures (later RKO). Thirteen Women stars Myrna Loy and Irene Dunne in a pre-Hays code, high-budget thriller produced by David O. Selznick and drawn from the novel by Tiffany Thayer. Entwistle played a small supporting role as Hazel Cousins.

It premiered on 14 October 1932, a month after her death, at the Roxy Theatre in New York City and was released in Los Angeles on 11 November to neither critical nor commercial success. By the time it was re-released in 1935, 14 minutes had been cut from the film's original 73 minute running length. In 2008 Variety magazine cited Thirteen Women as one of the earliest "female ensemble" films.

On 16 September 1932, an anonymous woman telephoned the Los Angeles police and said that while hiking she had found a woman's shoe, purse and jacket below the Hollywoodland sign. The woman said she looked in the purse and found a suicide note. She then said she looked down the mountain and saw a body. According to a police transcript of the call, the woman said she "wrapped a jacket, shoes and purse in a bundle and laid them on the steps of the Hollywood Police Station." The anonymous woman refused to identify herself.

A detective and two radio car officers found the body of a moderately well-dressed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman in a ravine below the sign. Entwistle remained unidentified until her uncle (at whose Beachwood Canyon home she had been living) connected her two-day absence with the description and initials "P.E." on a suicide note which had been found in the purse and published by the newspapers.

He said that on Friday, 16 September she had told him she was going for a walk to a drugstore and see some friends. The police surmised that instead she made her way to the nearby southern slope of Mount Lee to the foot of the Hollywoodland sign, climbed a workman's ladder to the top of the "H" and jumped.

The cause of death was listed by the coroner as "multiple fractures of the pelvis."

The suicide note as published read:

"I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E."

Entwistle's death brought wide and often sensationalised publicity. Her funeral was held at the WM Strathers Mortuary in Hollywood on 20 September.

Her body was cremated and the ashes were later sent to Glendale, Ohio, for burial next to her father in Oak Hill Cemetery, where they were interred on 5 January 1933.

In 2014, roughly one hundred people marked the anniversary of Entwistle's death by gathering in the parking lot of Beachwood Market in Hollywood to watch Thirteen Women on an outdoor screen. Proceeds from a raffle and from food and beverages sold at the screening were donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Entwistle's name.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles,

Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a slimy dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

An alcoholic, Young was implicated in the murder-suicide that resulted in the deaths of his wife and himself in 1978.


Success and decline
In 1955, Young became the host of Warner Bros. Presents, an umbrella title for three television series (Casablanca, Kings Row, and Cheyenne) that aired during the 1955–56 season on ABC Television.

He played a supporting role the same year in the Humphrey Bogart thriller The Desperate Hours.

Young is also remembered by many James Dean fans for the "driving safety" interview made shortly before Dean's fatal car accident in September, 1955.




On the 1964–65 NBC series The Rogues, he shared appearances on a rotating basis with David Niven and Charles Boyer.

Young won the Academy Award for his role as Rocky, the dance marathon emcee and promoter in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

According to his fourth wife, Elaine Williams, "What he was aching for, as he walked up to collect his Oscar, was a role in his own movie—one that they could finally call 'a Gig Young movie.'

For Young, the Oscar was literally the kiss of death, the end of the line".

Young himself had said to Louella Parsons, after failing to win in 1951, "so many people who have been nominated for an Oscar have had bad luck afterwards."

After a substantial supporting role in Lovers and Other Strangers in 1970, alcoholism began to cost him roles.

He collapsed on the set of the comedy film Blazing Saddles during his first day of shooting due to alcohol withdrawal, and was fired

Young's last role was in the 1978 film Game of Death, released nearly six years after the film's star, Bruce Lee, died during production in 1973.

Personal life

Young was married five times; his first marriage to Sheila Stapler lasted seven years, ending in 1947.

In 1950, he married Sophie Rosenstein, the resident drama coach at Paramount, who was several years Young's senior.

She was soon diagnosed with cancer, and died just short of two years after the couple's wedding.

After her death, Young was engaged to actress Elaine Stritch.

He met actress Elizabeth Montgomery after she appeared in an episode of Warner Bros. Presents in 1956, and the two married later that year.

In 1963, Montgomery divorced Young because of his alcoholism.

Young married his fourth wife, real estate agent Elaine Williams, nine months after his divorce from Montgomery was final.

Williams was pregnant with Young's child at the time and gave birth to his only child, Jennifer, in April 1964.

After three years of marriage, the couple divorced.

During a legal battle over child support with Williams, Young denied that Jennifer was his biological child.

After five years of court battles, Young lost his case.

On September 27, 1978, Young, age 64, married his fifth wife, a 31-year-old German magazine editor named Kim Schmidt.

He met Schmidt in Hong Kong while working on Game of Death.

Death

On October 19, 1978, three weeks after his marriage to Schmidt, the couple was found dead at home in their Manhattan apartment.

Police theorized that Young shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself.

A motive for the murder-suicide was never made clear.

Young was at one time under the care of the psychologist and psychotherapist Eugene Landy, who would later have his professional California medical license revoked amidst accusations of ethical violations and patient misconduct.

Young was buried in the Green Hill Cemetery in Waynesville, North Carolina in his family's plot along with his parents, siblings and an uncle.

Young's will, which covered a $200,000 estate, left his Academy Award to his agent, Martin Baum and Baum's wife, Bernice; however, Young's daughter Jennifer launched a campaign in the early 1990s to get the award back from his agent, and struck an agreement that she would get the award back upon the agent's death, which occurred in 2010.

For his contribution to the television industry, Young has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard.



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
CBS’ Moonves Preps Exit As More Allegations Hit


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CBS Corp. is reportedly preparing to announce the departure of chief executive officer Les Moonves as the media mogul faces a fresh round of allegations of sexual harassment.

Six additional women have come forward to accuse Moonves of harassment or assault, with claims stretching back decades, in a new report by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker. This follows on from the previous allegations from six other women regarding Moonves during his CBS tenure.

The latest reported incidents occurred in the 1980s and early 2000s and include claims that the executive forced women to perform oral sex on him, exposed himself, and used intimidation and physical violence. One of the women, veteran TV exec Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, filed a complaint late last year with the Los Angeles Police Department. The publication reports that their law enforcement sources found her “allegations credible and consistent” but prosecutors declined to pursue charges because the statute of limitations had expired.

The revelations add pressure to exit talks that were already underway at the network with the announcement of his exit expected imminently. It’s unclear what financial impact they will have, but these fresh allegations could make a dent in Moonves’ settlement package which was originally expected to total more than $US100 million.

Moonves, in a statement to the New Yorker, acknowledged three of the encounters while maintaining that they were consensual. Moonves is expected to be succeeded as CEO by Chief Operating Officer Joseph Ianniello temporarily as the board would then begin a search for a full-time replacement.

CBS and controlling shareholder National Amusements Inc., who has been battling for board control with Moonves, didn’t have immediate comments on Sunday. As part of separate negotiations, CBS would end efforts to dilute the Redstone family’s 80% voting stake through National Amusements Inc. and potentially dismiss board members who staged an attempted coup. In exchange, National Amusements would agree to honor the independence of a new board and vow it won’t mount a new effort to merge CBS with Viacom Inc. for at least 18 months.

As the story continues to unfold, new wrinkles are cropping up. A new report at The Huffington Post details a source claiming Moonves was obsessed for years with ruining Janet Jackson’s career following the infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction because “Jackson, in his mind, was not sufficiently repentant.”
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Bryan Singer Denies Upcoming Allegations



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Filmmaker Bryan Singer (“X-Men,” “Superman Returns”) has preemptively lashed out at an upcoming article in Esquire magazine, one that it appears to suggest will revisit sexual abuse and misconduct allegations that were levelled at him in the past.

Singer took to Instagram to issue a statement, with the piece likely to be released in conjunction with the opening of Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” in a few weeks – the film which Singer directed until he was fired from production towards the end of shooting and was replaced by Dexter Fletcher (though Singer will still receive credit for directing the film). Singer’s statement reads:

“I have known for some time that Esquire magazine may publish a negative article about me. They have contacted my friends, colleagues and people I don’t even know. In today’s climate where people’s careers are being harmed by mere accusations, what Esquire is attempting to do is a reckless disregard for the truth, making assumptions that are fictional and irresponsible.

This article will attempt to rehash false accusations and bogus lawsuits. This article will misuse quotes from ‘sources’ that will claim to have ‘intimate’ knowledge of my personal life. It will also attempt to establish guilt by association simply because of people I’ve either known or met in the past. They will be attempting to tarnish a career I’ve spent 25 years to build… I will comment further on this if necessary.”

Last year, Singer was accused of rape in 2003 by a then 17-year-old Cesar Sanchez-Guzman. Singer was previously accused by Michael Egan of assault in 2014 but Egan later apologized and said his allegations were untrue.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Sylvester Stallone won't face sexual assault charges


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Sylvester Stallone will not face rape charges after prosecutors in California found there was "insufficient evidence".

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office also found the allegations fell outside of the statue of limitations.

In 2017, an unidentified victim said Stallone assaulted her in the early 1990s.

The Rocky star said the allegation was "completely fabricated".

According to the charge evaluation sheet, the woman said she and Stallone had "a consensual relationship" in 1987.

"The victim alleged assaults in 1987 and 1990 and provided fresh complaint witnesses," it reads.

"However, none of the witnesses corroborated the victim's allegations."

It also reported that the additional investigation "did not provide any further corroboration".

At the time of the woman's original allegation, Stallone's lawyer Marty Singer said the actor "categorically disputes the claim".
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle In London (1920)






Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (/ˈɑːrbʌkəl/; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd. He mentored Charlie Chaplin and discovered Buster Keaton and Bob Hope. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s, and soon became one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for US$1 million (equivalent to approximately $14,000,000 in 2017 dollars[1]).

Between November 1921 and April 1922, Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials for the rape and manslaughter of young film actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had suddenly fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on September 5, 1921; she died four days later. Arbuckle was accused by Rappe's dubious acquaintance of raping and accidentally killing Rappe. After the first two trials, which resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was acquitted in the third trial and received a formal written statement of apology from the jury.

Despite Arbuckle's acquittal, the scandal ruined his career and even today, has mostly overshadowed his legacy as a pioneering comedian. Following the trials, his films were banned and he was publicly ostracized. Although the ban on his films was lifted within a year, Arbuckle only worked sparingly through the 1920s. He later worked as a film director under the pseudonym William Goodrich. He was finally able to return to acting in 1932, making short two-reel comedies for Warner Bros.

Arbuckle died in his sleep of a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 46, reportedly on the same day he signed a contract with Warner Bros. to make a feature film.




Virginia Rappe His Musical Sneeze (1919) Silent

Tragic starlet Virginia Rappe in several scenes from the 1919 silent short His Musical Sneeze -

 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Les Moonves, Luc Besson Scandals Intensify


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Two of the more noted scandals regarding alleged sexual misconduct in recent months have taken darker turns today.

A new report in the New York Times has revealed former CBS Corp. chairman-CEO Leslie Moonves tried to buy the silence of actress Bobbie Phillips (“Murder One,” “The X-Files,” “Showgirls”) with a TV role. The report alleges Moonves assaulted Phillips during a meeting in 1995 as president of Warner Bros. Television.

Moonves told investigators who are in the midst of a probe into his conduct at CBS that the sexual encounter with Phillips was consensual. Phillips was not one of the women who spoke out with allegations against Moonves in stories published in July and September.

The actress describes the encounter to the Times as Moonves physically forcing her to perform oral sex on him after he exposed himself. The report will add to the pressure on CBS to deny Moonves any of his $120 million severance following his ousting back in September from the network.

That’s not the only story today. Filmmaker Luc Besson has reportedly been accused of sexual harassment by a further five women, taking the total number of women accusing him of inappropriate behavior to nine.

The new accusations come from a former assistant, a theatre producer, a former EuropaCorp employee and two students at his studio complex. “Taxi 5” actress Sand Van Roy filed a formal rape complaint against Besson in May.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
New Allegations Arise Against Bryan Singer


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A major article about “X-Men” and “Usual Suspects” filmmaker Bryan Singer has arrived in The Atlantic this morning, one which includes four men accusing him of having sex with them when they were underage.

Conducted as part of a year-long investigation, the journalists on the piece claim to have spoken to over fifty sources including the aforementioned four who have never spoken about their experiences before. Two of them allege the events took place at Singer’s house in 1997 when he was in his early 30s – one of the boys was 17, the other 15 at the time and below the age of consent in California (18).

The piece goes on to say: “The accusations against Singer cover a spectrum. Some of the alleged victims say they were seduced by the director while underage; others say they were raped…The portrait of Singer that emerges is of a troubled man who surrounded himself with vulnerable teenage boys, many of them estranged from their families.”

They also indicated many of the sources interviewed insisted, out of fear of damaging their own career, that their names are withheld.

Singer was famously fired during the production of Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” in December 2017, leaving Fox having to bring on “Rocketman” helmer Dexter Fletcher to finish the film which has since gone on to $800 million global box-office success.

Singer remains credited as sole director of the film due to DGA rules, but was famously not mentioned in the acceptance speeches at the Golden Globes earlier this month. Singer is next slated to helm a “Red Sonja” film adaptation for Millenium Films.
 

The Seeker

Member: Rank 6
I really liked Singer’s X-men movies and felt the third one suffered without his presence. In fact the third one sucked, period. The second movie was a beautiful set-up for a third. What a disappointment he turned out to be so scuzzy.
 
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