By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | December 8, 2017 |
By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | December 8, 2017 |
After being fired from the set of the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, director Bryan Singer was sued for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old. (Pajiba, Pajiba)
Because of this, Singer’s Apt Pupil scandal is resurfacing. (EW)
Also, we recommend reading Ira Madison III’s thoughts on how Singer is “the epitome of Hollywood’s White Male Privilege Problem.” (The Daily Beast)
Previously, we shared costume designer Susan Bertram’s horrifying story of the time actor Robert Knepper grabbed her genitals, threw her against a wall, then said, “I’m going to fuck your brains out.” Now, four more women have come forward with similar and even more disturbing allegations against Knepper. According to the article, after raping one woman, he said to her, “Either you’re a pervert or there’s something really wrong with me.” (THR)
Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine has been accused of repeatedly molesting a boy when he was just 15 years old, an experience that pushed him to the brink of suicide. Levine was 41 at the time. (NY Post)
New York City Ballet master-in-chief Peter Martins is under suspicion after an anonymous letter offered “general, nonspecific allegations of sexual harassment in the past.” NYCB is investigating the matter. (NYT)
Longtime WNYC hosts Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz have been put on leave from their jobs as accusations of inappropriate conduct are investigated. (WNYC)
Radio journalist John Hockenberry has been accused of sexual harassment. (The Cut)
More details are coming out about how Harvey Weinstein was able to scare his accusers into silence for so long. Basically, he made an army of employees and colleagues complicit. (NYT)
The same article makes clear how he even name dropped his victims to sexual conquests in the most manipulative way imaginable:
Now we understand how Weinstein treated and used Gwyneth Paltrow: he made her a star, spread rumors about having sex with her, and used her name to harass/assault other women, with the message: if you want a career like hers, you have to submit. https://t.co/tuURitIBUV pic.twitter.com/0sQg3i2u1i
— jodikantor (@jodikantor) December 6, 2017
Weinstein is being sued for sexual harassment by Sandeep Rehal, one of his former assistants, and in a separate lawsuit by 8 other women. (Variety, Variety)
The lawyers for Girls writer Murray Miller previously claimed that Aurora Perrineau, the actress who accused Miller of sexual assault, “sought substantial monetary damages.” But now Miller’s lawyers say Perrineau never asked for money, admitting, “Our previous above statement was incorrect and the result of a good-faith misunderstanding.” A “good-faith misunderstanding” that favored the idea that their client was essentially being blackmailed? Uh huh. (Variety)
Lena Dunham, who defended Murray and essentially called Perrineau a liar, has not tweeted since her last apology. (Twitter)
After several women have accused the senator of sexual misconduct, Al Franken resigned. And it was about damn time. (Pajiba)
Donald Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by 19 women. (The Atlantic)
Dustin Hoffman was questioned about the sexual harassment allegations against him during a Q&A hosted by John Oliver. And Hoffman did himself no favors. (Pajiba)
Film director Kim Ki-duk will likely face a fine for his behavior on a 2013 film set of Moebius. An unnamed actress says “Kim slapped her in the face while shooting the movie and forced her to take part in an unscripted, violent sex scene.” Following the incident, her role was recast. (Variety)
Danny Masterson was finally fired from Netflix’s The Ranch. And we’d like to say it was over four accusations of rape made against the actor, but realistically it’s probably due to the absolutely callous statement made to one of his victims by a Netflix employee, which demanded damage control. (Netflix)
Because of numerous accusations of sexual misconduct from House of Cards star Kevin Spacey, Netflix has decided to write Frank out of the show and focus on Claire Underwood. (Pajiba)
After Charylne Yi accused Penguin Books’ illustrator Giuseppe Castellano of sexual misconduct, he resigned, but not before calling Yi a liar. (his blog)
Yi is not having that.
Instead of blaming & gaslighting me maybe you should consider that you lost your job because of your own disgusting behavior. My word was not enough to cause you to lose your job. Your actions & track record was what lead to losing your job. Point that finger at yourself thanks.
— Charlyne Yi (@charlyne_yi) December 4, 2017
In the wake of Lauer leaving Today, the show’s ratings have skyrocketed. (Vanity Fair)
With Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and Mark Halperin all being ousted over sexual harassment, it’s worth considering how these men covered Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. (NYT)
Lucas Siegel was a managing editor at ComicBook.com, a contributor to StarWars.com, and a blogger with a bad reputation of sexual harassment, which eventually caught up to him. As was the case with Devin Faraci before him, his downfall is pushing more online writers and publishers to consider how we as a community can do better. (Bleeding Cool)
Former Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. has been fired from Morgan Stanley over claims of harrassment and “forcibly grabbing” a female colleague. (HuffPo)
Nabih al-Wahsh, an Egyptian lawyer, is facing a fine and jail time for declaring on national television, “I say that when a girl walks about (wearing revealing clothing), it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass her and a national duty to rape her.” Again, this guy is a lawyer. (BBC)
WME agent Adam Venit is being sued by Terry Crews for assault, battery, sexual battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Pajiba)
Many alleged abusers had their names scorned in the pages of Time as the magazine’s Person of the Year went to the survivors who are standing up and changing the world. Cheers to the Silence Breakers. (Pajiba)
Notably, one of those Silence Breakers, Ashley Judd, has spoken openly about how the culture of victim silence was enabled by there being no protocol on how to report sexual misconduct in Hollywood. That’s changing. The advocacy group Women in Film has created a hotline to report abuse: (323) 545-0333 (LA Times)
Kicking off an increasingly crushing round-up of celebrities promoting rape culture, we start with Pamela Anderson. On Today, the Batwatch star told host Megyn Kelly that Weinstein’s accusers could have been spared harassment and assault if they used “common sense.” And that’s not even the most infuriating thing she said. (Indiewire)
Asked if he’d work with alleged serial rapist/filmmaker Roman Polanski, Armie Hammer said, “As a human, and as someone who’s trying to live a virtuous life, you kind of go ‘Is it worth it?’ because you know there’s going to be drama. You know it’s going to be something that can overshadow what you’re actually trying to do. So, I don’t know, it’s a grey area. It’s full of grey, you know?” We don’t, Armie. We really don’t. (ONTD)
Kate Winslet, Blake Lively, and Greta Gerwig have all commended the women who have spoken out about sexual harassment in their industry. They have also unapologetically worked with Woody Allen, and Dylan Farrow is calling bullshit. Seriously, read her op-ed. It’s positively insane that her story is still being ignored by so many. (LA Times)
Director David Yates and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling have defended the casting of alleged abuser Johnny Depp for Fantastic Beasts 2. (Pajiba, Pajiba)
Because of this, both Yates and Rowling are being accused of making the world a tougher place for the abused.
Seems like David Yates talking about accusations of domestic violence in these terms is not helpful to the world of Harry Potter or to the cause of women speaking up. @jk_rowling @VanityFair pic.twitter.com/ST77GFkTrR
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) December 7, 2017
Watching a franchise that truly saved my life as a child and gave me a space in which I dared to hope for safety and justice and love and family be infiltrated by a man representing the very evil I was hiding from is heartbreaking.
— dani (@anthroqveer) December 7, 2017
Companies are afraid they might have a Harvey Weinstein in their ranks. (WaPo)
Men are afraid of hugging women now. (CBSlocal)
Women are afraid men are missing the point. But at least Chance the Rapper gets it.
“F*ck That Guy” round-ups seem to get longer every week. And I know, it’s a lot to take in. So, let’s end with some women who refuse to let all this shit get them down, whether that means going into politics, or dancing out your angst.
Dance your political angst out pic.twitter.com/0ddyzLgMiX
— Charlyne Yi (@charlyne_yi) December 6, 2017
I've watched this ad for a Democratic candidate for Michigan Attorney General a dozen times.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 30, 2017
"When you’re choosing Michigan’s next attorney general, ask yourself this: Who can you trust most not to show you their penis in a professional setting?" https://t.co/rHVEgXocoA pic.twitter.com/1oCDdsggP0