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ASPartOfMe
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17 May 2021, 8:22 am

Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior

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By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage, her husband was known globally as a software pioneer, a billionaire and a leading philanthropist.

But in some circles, Bill Gates had also developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings. That is attracting new scrutiny amid the breakup of one of the world’s richest, most powerful couples.

In 2018, Ms. French Gates wasn’t satisfied with her husband’s handling of a previously undisclosed sexual harassment claim against his longtime money manager, according to two people familiar with the matter. After Mr. Gates moved to settle the matter confidentially, Ms. French Gates insisted on an outside investigation. The money manager, Michael Larson, remains in his job.

On at least a few occasions, Mr. Gates pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to people with direct knowledge of his overtures.

In 2019, Microsoft’s board of directors, on which Mr. Gates sat, opened an investigation into one of those cases after being notified that he had “sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000,” Frank X. Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, said on Sunday. The board hired a law firm to investigate. The following year, Mr. Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board. The Wall Street Journal reported the 2000 incident and the board’s investigation.

“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” said Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates. “Gates’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter.”

And then there was Jeffrey Epstein, whom Mr. Gates got to know beginning in 2011, three years after Mr. Epstein, who faced accusations of sex trafficking of girls, pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. Ms. French Gates had expressed discomfort with her husband spending time with the sex offender, but Mr. Gates continued doing so, according to people who were at or briefed on gatherings with the two men.

So, in October 2019, when the relationship between Mr. Gates and Mr. Epstein burst into public view, Ms. French Gates was unhappy. She hired divorce lawyers, setting in motion a process that culminated this month with the announcement that their marriage was ending.

It is not clear how much Ms. French Gates knew about her husband’s behavior or to what degree it contributed to their split.

Ms. Arnold disputed the characterization of his conduct and the couple’s divorce.

“It is extremely disappointing that there have been so many untruths published about the cause, the circumstances and the timeline of Bill Gates’s divorce,” Ms. Arnold said.

“Your characterization of his meetings with Epstein and others about philanthropy is inaccurate, including who participated,” she continued. “Similarly, any claim that Gates spoke of his marriage or Melinda in a disparaging manner is false. The claim of mistreatment of employees is also false. The rumors and speculation surrounding Gates’s divorce are becoming increasingly absurd, and it’s unfortunate that people who have little to no knowledge of the situation are being characterized as ‘sources.’”

Mr. Gates and Ms. French Gates met at work. He was technically her boss. He ran Microsoft, and she began working there in 1987 as a product manager the year after she graduated from college.

Long after they married in 1994, Mr. Gates would on occasion pursue women in the office.

In 2006, for example, he attended a presentation by a female Microsoft employee. Mr. Gates, who at the time was the company’s chairman, left the meeting and immediately emailed the woman to ask her out to dinner, according to two people familiar with the exchange.

‘If this makes you uncomfortable, pretend it never happened,” Mr. Gates wrote in an email, according to a person who read it to The New York Times.

The woman was indeed uncomfortable, the two people said. She decided to pretend it had never happened.

A year or two later, Mr. Gates was on a trip to New York on behalf of the Gates Foundation. He was traveling with a woman who worked for the foundation. Standing with her at a cocktail party, Mr. Gates lowered his voice and said: “I want to see you. Will you have dinner with me?” according to the woman.

The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she did not want the public attention associated with describing an unwanted advance, said she felt uncomfortable but laughed to avoid responding.

Six current and former employees of Microsoft, the foundation and the firm that manages the Gates’s fortune said those incidents, and others more recently, at times created an uncomfortable workplace environment. Mr. Gates was known for making clumsy approaches to women in and out of the office. His behavior fueled widespread chatter among employees about his personal life.

Some of the employees said that while they disapproved of Mr. Gates’s behavior, they did not perceive it to be predatory. They said he did not pressure the women to submit to his advances for the sake of their careers, and he seemed to feel that he was giving the women the space to refuse his advances.

Even so, Mr. Gates’s actions ran counter to the agenda of female empowerment that Ms. French Gates was promoting on a global stage.

The Times published an article detailing Mr. Gates’s relationship with Mr. Epstein. The article reported that the two men had spent time together on multiple occasions, flying on Mr. Epstein’s private jet and attending a late-night gathering at his Manhattan townhouse. “His lifestyle is very different and kind of intriguing although it would not work for me,” Mr. Gates emailed colleagues in 2011, after he first met Mr. Epstein.

For years, Mr. Gates continued to go to dinners and meetings at Mr. Epstein’s home, where Mr. Epstein usually surrounded himself with young and attractive women, said two people who were there and two others who were told about the gatherings.

Ms. Arnold said Mr. Gates never socialized or attended parties with Mr. Epstein, and she denied that young and attractive women participated at their meetings. “Bill only met with Epstein to discuss philanthropy,” Ms. Arnold said.

While the alleged one time advances on employees might be sexual harassment under the law and definitely unethical, by definition to harass you to be making multiple attempts to bother somebody else. Still I envision the number of people on the spectrum claiming Gates is an Aspie will drop precipitously today.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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12 Jun 2021, 3:36 am

Former Michigan football players say coach Bo Schembechler ignored warnings, son's complaint about doctor's abuse

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Two former Michigan football players said Thursday they believe they could have been spared from sexual assaults if their coach, Bo Schembechler, had addressed complaints about former team doctor Robert Anderson made by Schembechler's son Matt.

Both players said they also tried to warn Bo Schembechler about Anderson's abusive treatment and were ignored.

Dan Kwiatkowski and Gilvanni Johnson joined Matt Schembechler on Thursday at a news conference in Michigan to share their stories. Kwiatkowski played offensive tackle for the Wolverines in the late 1970s; Johnson played wide receiver in the early 1980s.

Both men said they previously talked to investigators about being molested by Anderson while they were on the football team, but publicly revealed their identities for the first time earlier this week.

"If [Bo Schembechler] had stopped Anderson before 1982, I would not have been victimized at all," Johnson said.

Anderson served in a variety of roles at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 2003, working closely with the athletic department for most of that time. More than 800 former patients have made legal claims that Anderson sexually assaulted them during physical exams and other routine medical appointments. Anderson died in 2008, a decade before claims about his abuse were widely publicized.

On Wednesday, Matt Schembechler said he was sexually assaulted by Anderson in 1969 when he was 10 years old. Matt Schembechler said that when he told his father what happened shortly after his appointment, the coach told his son he didn't want to hear about it. Bo Schembechler then "put hands on" his wife, Millie, and punched his son in the chest, Matt Schembechler said.

Matt Schembechler said his father then blocked an attempt to fire Anderson.

Bo Schembechler died in 2006. Millie died in 1992.

"[Bo] believed no man is more important than the team. Dr. Anderson was part of Bo's team, therefore he was more important than any man," Matt Schembechler said during Thursday's news conference. "I'm coming forward for my own healing and to help prevent people and institutions from exploiting the trust and power given to them in the future."

Kwiatkowski on Thursday said that when he told Bo Schembechler about how Anderson digitally penetrated his rectum, the coach told him to "toughen up."

Johnson said he told Bo Schembechler about Anderson assaulting him after his physical exam as a freshman. Johnson said the coach said he would check with the medical staff, but he did not follow up after the initial conversation.

Kwiatkowski and Johnson both said Anderson's actions had long-term impacts on their trust in doctors and their personal relationships. They said players frequently joked about Anderson in the locker room when teammates returned from treatment.

Johnson said he recalled assistant coaches telling players that if they didn't work hard, they would have to go have a visit with Anderson.

"Only now do I realize how crazy it was to threaten rape as a way of motivating players to work harder," Johnson said.

Glenn Schembechler refuted allegations that his father hit his brother and mother, saying there was "no way" that his father would do that or that his mother would stand for being treated that way. He said he didn't witness any type of violent conduct in his home while growing up.

Glenn Schembechler said he has not spoken with his brother for more than a decade and that relationships within their family have long been frayed.

Glenn Schembechler said his brother's relationship with his father soured decades ago. In 1999, Matt sued his father and the University of Michigan over a dispute related to a sports memorabilia company he was running.

Matt Schembechler on Thursday said his father's response to claims about Anderson in 1969 was "the beginning of the end" of their relationship.


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08 Aug 2021, 6:29 am

Lawsuit Accuses Omar Vizquel of Sexually Harassing an Autistic Batboy

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Former MLB shortstop Omar Vizquel is being sued for allegedly sexually harassing a batboy, who has autism, while he was manager of the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox's Double-A affiliate. The Barons, the White Sox and the Chisox Corporation are all mentioned as defendants in the complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division.

The lawsuit accuses Vizquel of "sexually aggressive behavior" and "at least five occasions" where he "deliberately exposed his erect or partially erect penis" to the man, 25, while also demanding he wash his back. The worker "humiliated, intimidated, and frightened of what would happen if he disobeyed ... complied with Vizquel's demand," per the lawsuit.

When the batboy informed multiple Barons staff members that he was forced to wash Vizquel's back, they laughed and told him, "Everything that happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse," per the complaint.

The plaintiff, who will not be named because they are a potential victim of sexual harassment, “has substantial impairments in processing information, handling stressful situations, successfully maintaining interpersonal relations, and in activities such as driving and working,” according to the complaint. The worker is accusing the White Sox and Barons of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and seeks back pay and damages

Vizquel was suspended and investigated by the White Sox in 2019 and eventually fired that September. The lawsuit alleges that the White Sox had “actual or presumed” knowledge of similar events involving Vizquel.

In 2020, Vizquel's wife accused him of physically abusing her on multiple occasions. He was arrested once but not prosecuted and Vizquel has denied the abuse. He has not been employed in MLB since being fired from the White Sox but was fired last week as manager of the Tijuana Bulls in the Mexican Baseball League after two seasons.

Vizquel played for 24 seasons in the majors and has been part of the Hall of Fame ballot for four years. He received 52.6 percent of the votes in 2020, but experienced a slight drop to 49.1 percent after his wife's allegations emerged.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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21 Oct 2021, 3:10 am

Flavor Flav Arrested for Domestic Battery in Las Vegas Weeks Before Marking Year of Sobriety

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Flavor Flav was arrested earlier this month after a domestic violence dispute in Las Vegas.

On Oct. 5, the 62-year-old rapper, born William Drayton Jr., was arrested by the Henderson Police Department on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge regarding a dispute the night before, HPD confirms with PEOPLE.

The Public Enemy musician allegedly grabbed the woman, poked his finger in her nose and face, grabbed her and threw her to the ground. He also allegedly grabbed a phone out of her hand, according to the city attorney.

Billboard reported on Wednesday that the alleged victim was someone the rapper was dating and that they share a child. Their son split up the fight before his mother lunged at Drayton, per a police report obtained by the magazine. Officers also reported a cut on the woman's face.

Their son told police he stepped in to stop the scuffle when his parents separated and his mother lunged toward Drayton, according to a police report. Officers reported a small cut on the side of the woman's face "consistent with an altercation taking place."

Flavor Flav's public persona includes wearing a big clock on a chain around his neck. He was inducted with the group Public Enemy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Public Enemy began in the New York area in 1986.

Drayton has a criminal history that includes arrests and convictions on traffic infractions; a month in jail for assaulting his then-girlfriend in 1991; and three months behind bars for shooting at a neighbor in New York in 1993.

An October 2012 incident led to his arrest on several felony charges after he was accused of wielding knives, chasing and threatening his then-fiancee's 17-year-old son at their home in Las Vegas.

That case was closed in 2014, after Drayton pleaded guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor attempted battery, served probation and completed a required domestic violence counseling course.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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28 Oct 2021, 7:46 am

Chicago Blackhawks report out; president Stan Bowman resigns

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Chicago Blackhawks president of hockey operations Stan Bowman has resigned after investigators released their findings on how the team handled sexual assault allegations against former video coach Brad Aldrich during the 2010 Stanley Cup run

Senior director of hockey administration Al MacIsaac is also out, meaning there are no Blackhawks executives involved with the 2010 team remaining with the organization.

The league also said it was fining the team $2 million for the "organization's inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich's employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010."

Half of the fine will be set aside for local organizations that support survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse.

According to a lawsuit filed in May 2021 by an unidentified former Blackhawks player, "John Doe," Aldrich sexually assaulted him and another player during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoff run.

In June, the Blackhawks commissioned an independent law firm, Jenner & Block, to conduct a full investigation. That investigation was led by Reid Schar, a former assistant U.S. attorney, and the results were handed over to the Blackhawks organization on Monday.

The findings were released publicly on Tuesday. After a news conference, the team released a statement to fans.

"It is clear the organization and its executives at that time did not live up to our own standards or values in handling these disturbing incidents," it said, in part. "We deeply regret the harm caused to John Doe and the other individuals who were affected and the failure to promptly respond. As an organization, we extend our profound apologies to the individuals who suffered from these experiences. We must -- and will -- do better."

In a statement released through his attorney, Susan Loggans, John Doe said he was "grateful for the accountability" shown by the Blackhawks.

"Although nothing can truly change the detriment to my life over the past decade because of the actions of one man inside the Blackhawks organization, I am very grateful to have the truth be recognized, and I look forward to continuing the long journey to recovery," John Doe said.

According to the findings, on May 8 or 9 in 2010, John Doe had a sexual encounter with Aldrich. Both men confirmed to investigators that an encounter happened; John Doe said it was not consensual, while Aldrich said it was consensual.

According to Schar, days later MacIsaac was told there might have been a sexual encounter between the coach and player, and separately that Aldrich might have sent an explicit text message to another player.

Schar said that on May 23, then-president John McDonough, MacIsaac, Bowman, Jay Blunk, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Joel Quenneville and James Gary met to discuss what happened with John Doe.

In a statement, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he plans to arrange personal meetings in the near future with both Cheveldayoff, who is now the Jets GM, and Quenneville, the Panthers coach, "to discuss their roles in the relevant events as detailed in the report. I will reserve judgment on next steps, if any, with them."



Hockey player who made sexual abuse allegation against former Blackhawks video coach speaks out
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When he was 20 years old in 2010, Kyle Beach was pursuing his NHL dream when he was called up to the Chicago Blackhawks as a "Black Ace," a prospect player who could be available to play for the NHL club if needed. It was a couple of weeks later, Beach, now 31, said in an interview Wednesday with Canadian sports television station TSN, that his life "was changed forever."

On Tuesday, the NHL announced it had fined the Blackhawks $2 million for what the league described as "the organization's inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response" relating to the team's handling of ​alleged incidents of sexual misconduct involving former video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. The league says it punished the team following an independent investigation.

Beach, who now plays professionally in Germany, has come forward as the "John Doe" in the report and as "John Doe" in the lawsuit. On Wednesday, he expressed "a great feeling of relief and vindication" and that "it was no longer my word against everybody else's."

Beach also said he wanted to come forward and put his name on this.

"To be honest, it's already out there," Beach said to TSN. "The details were pretty accurate in the report, and it's been figured out. But more than that, I've been a survivor, I am a survivor. And I know I'm not alone. I know I'm not the only one, male or female. And I buried this for 10 years, 11 years. And it's destroyed me from the inside out."
Following TSN's interview with Beach, the Blackhawks released a statement, saying the club commended Beach in coming forward.

"As an organization, the Chicago Blackhawks reiterate our deepest apologies to him for what he has gone through and for the organization's failure to promptly respond when he bravely brought this matter to light in 2010," the statement said. "It was inexcusable for the then-executives of the Blackhawks organization to delay taking action regarding the reported sexual misconduct. No playoff game or championship is more important than protecting our players and staff from predatory behavior."

On June 14, 2010, McDonough informed team human resources about the incident and the May 23 team leadership meeting. McDonough said, according to the director of human resources, "it was decided that the group would not alert Human Resources or do anything about the incident during the playoffs so as not to disturb team chemistry." McDonough told investigators he did not recall this conversation.
Nearly a decade later, the Blackhawks fired McDonough. The team did not state the reason for the firing on its press release last year. The team said, "it was the right decision for the future of the organization and its fans."

Aldrich received severance and a playoff bonus. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup. He received a championship ring and was allowed to take the Stanley Cup to his hometown for a day, per ​the investigation report.

"The only way I could describe it was that I felt sick, I felt sick to my stomach," Beach told TSN of watching Aldrich interacting with the team when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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17 Dec 2021, 5:48 pm

Chris Noth Peloton ad suspended after sexual assault allegations

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Peloton has pulled an ad featuring Chris Noth in the wake of sexual assault allegations against him.

Two women, who used pseudonyms in the THR story to protect their privacy, accuse Noth of sexually assaulting them. The alleged incidents occurred in 2004 in Los Angeles and 2015 in New York, respectively. The women said Noth reprising his role as Mr. Big in the HBO Max series "And Just Like That..." motivated them to come forward.

"The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false. These stories could've been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It's difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don't know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women," Noth said in a statement to CNN.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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17 Dec 2021, 5:57 pm

maybe it's fair to ask, "are there ANY alphas or betas who are NOT sociopathic?"



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18 Dec 2021, 10:02 pm

Warner Bros. asked Johnny Depp to resign from the (Harry Potter) Fantastic Beasts five movie franchise, after he lost a libel suit against a tabloid that called him a "wife beater". Meaning basically that a judge decided "wife beater" is an accurate depiction of Depp. Although many maintain that Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard was the abusive one in the relationship.

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/06/93210368 ... 0to%202022.



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24 Feb 2022, 10:12 am

Co-stars say Jerry Lewis sexually harassed and assaulted them in explosive report

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Beloved by movies audiences as a pratfall-prone, goofy presence onscreen, Hollywood icon Jerry Lewis was a sex-crazed predator who harassed and sexually abused his co-stars, several women claim in a new report.

The explosive allegations are featured in a Vanity Fair story and accompanying short documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, who interviewed the actresses as part of a larger project about misogyny and abuse in the entertainment industry.

Actress Karen Sharpe, now 87, recounted how she refused to give in to an alleged assault by Lewis, who died in 2017 at age 91 — and he retaliated by making her an on-set pariah.

Sharpe said that while on the set of the 1964 film “The Disorderly Orderly,” Lewis cornered her in a dressing room.

Sharpe said she was then subjected to Lewis’ infamous cruel streak when he instructed the entire cast and crew not to speak to her for the duration of the shoot.

Then there was Hope Holiday, who had known Lewis since she was 13 as a friend of her father’s and considered him “family,” as she told Vanity Fair. When he offered her a part in the 1961 comedy “The Ladies Man,” she jumped at the chance. But the experience went sour pretty quickly.

She described going into a “garish” dressing room, upon which Lewis pressed a button and locked the door. Then he started talking to her about sex.

He starts to talk dirty to me and as he’s talking, the pants open...I was frightened. ... I just sat there and I wanted to leave so badly,” she said.

It was all part of the culture of Hollywood at the time, said the filmmakers, who also interviewed actresses including Lanie Kazan, Anna Maria Alberghetti and Jill St. John about Lewis’ unwanted come-ons.
“They were expected to accept being assaulted and to just deal with it themselves,” Dick told Vanity Fair.


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30 Dec 2022, 12:55 pm

Steven Tyler Accused of Sexual Assault of a Minor in New Lawsuit Over a Decades-Old Claim

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A WOMAN WHO claims to have had an illicit relationship with Steven Tyler in the Seventies when she was a minor has filed a lawsuit against the Aerosmith singer, accusing him of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed following California legislation that temporarily waived statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse allegations.

In the suit filed in Los Angeles and obtained by Rolling Stone, the plaintiff Julia Holcomb alleges that Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to grant him guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, which consequently allowed her to live with him and engage in a sexual relationship. She claims they were together from 1973 until about three years later. The suit itself doesn’t name Tyler, naming the defendants as Defendant Doe 1 and Does 2 through 50. But Holcomb — who Rolling Stone mentioned in a 1976 profile of the band in reference to Tyler’s romantic life — has been public about her experience with Tyler in the past, and the lawsuit directly quotes from Tyler’s own memoir. In his book, without stating a name, Tyler similarly says he “almost took a teen bride” and that “her parents fell in love with me, signed a paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me.”

“I want this action to expose an industry that protects celebrity offenders, to cleanse and hold accountable an industry that both exploited and allowed me to be exploited for years, along with so many other naïve and vulnerable kids and adults,” Holcomb said in a statement regarding her suit. In the statement, she also referenced the legislation allowing her to come forward with the suit and the “exploitation” and Trauma she claims she faced from Tyler. “Because I know that I am not the only one who suffered abuse in the music industry, I feel it is time for me to take this stand and bring this action, to speak up and stand in solidarity with the other survivors.”

In the suit, Holcomb alleges that she “was powerless to resist” Tyler’s “power, fame and substantial financial ability, and that Tyler “coerced and persuaded Plaintiff into believing this was a ‘romantic love affair’”. Holcomb alleges that she met Tyler (who would’ve been 25 at the time of their meeting) just after her 16th birthday when Aerosmith played a concert in Portland, Oregon, in 1973. Tyler, according to the suit, took Holcomb back to his hotel room, where they discussed Holcomb’s age. After he allegedly asked why she was out all night by herself, Tyler and Holcomb talked about her troubles at home. He then “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her before sending her home in a taxi the next morning, the lawsuit states.

Tyler also allegedly bought Holcomb her own plane ticket to his next Aerosmith show in Seattle since she was a minor and could not legally travel with him across state lines, the suit says. After the Seattle show, Tyler allegedly performed more sexual acts on her, and Holcomb flew back to Portland the next morning.

By 1974, as the suit alleges, Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to allow him to become her guardian, which would allow him to more easily travel with her without criminal prosecution — a timeline that matches Tyler’s own comments from his 2011 memoir.

Holcomb further alleges that she was pregnant with Tyler’s son in 1975 when she was 17 years old but got an abortion after Tyler insisted she terminate the pregnancy following an apartment fire.

According to the lawsuit, Holcomb was hesitant about going through with the abortion, but Tyler had threatened to stop supporting her if she didn’t proceed with the procedure. After the abortion, she allegedly left Tyler and went back to Portland to change her life. She became a devout Catholic, met her husband, and buried her previous experiences with Tyler until he wrote about them in his book.

Holcomb says in the suit that her life was further disrupted with the publication of Tyler’s memoir, which, without Holcomb’s consent, referenced his time with an underage girl and subjected her to “involuntary infamy” while framing the alleged abuse as a “romantic, loving relationship,” the suit says. Tyler has also spoken of a relationship with an underage girl both in his own memoir and in Aerosmith’s autobiography. The Aerosmith autobiography, published in 1997, references the relationship, the apartment fire, and abortion, but Tyler refers to the girl as Diana and said she was 14 at the time they met. In his memoir, however, he says she was 16, and he writes about the fire but not the abortion. In the suit, Holcomb says she’s mentioned in the memoir’s acknowledgments which further removed her anonymity.

The lawsuit isn’t the first time Holcomb has shared these details about her alleged experience with Tyler. Prior to the complaint, she detailed many of the same allegations in 2011 for the far-right, anti-abortion website Lifesitenews, and she has gone on programs like Tucker Carlson’s show to share her experience as fodder against pro-choice advocacy. Holcomb also spoke of the experience in the 2021 documentary Look Away which focused on sexual abuse in rock music culture.

Holcomb’s suit comes in the final days of California’s Child Victims Act, a 2019 piece of legislation that lifted the statute of limitations and granted a three-year lookback period for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to come forward with their allegations. The deadline to file a lawsuit is December 31, 2022.

New York has similar legislation with the Adult Survivors Act, giving New Yorkers a year to file lawsuits over sexual misconduct they allegedly experienced in adulthood, regardless of when the claimed incident occurred. Since taking effect last month, two women have accused the late record executive Ahmet Ertegun of sexual assault in the 1980s and 1990s. California also passed legislation lifting the statute of limitations on adult sexual abuse cases for a year starting on January 1st, 2023.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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16 Mar 2023, 7:09 pm

Brooke Shields Says a Hollywood Exec Sexually Assaulted Her After a Dinner Meeting in Her 20s: ‘I Thought I Was Getting a Movie Job

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Brooke Shields’ new documentary “Pretty Baby” made headlines at the Sundance Film Festival due to her revelation that she was sexually assaulted in her 20s. In a new interview with People magazine, Shields revealed it was a powerful Hollywood executive who assaulted her over 30 years ago.

It’s taken me a long time to process it,” Shields said. “I’m more angry now than I was able to be then. If you’re afraid, you’re rightfully so. They are scary situations. They don’t have to be violent to be scary.”

Shields said she never went public with the sexual assault until the documentary because she thought “no one is going to believe me,” adding, “People weren’t believing those stories back then. I thought I would never work again.”

The sexual assault happened at the “lowest point of my career,” Shields said. She was a recent graduate from Princeton University and booked a meeting with a Hollywood executive. The meeting took shape as a business dinner.

“I thought I was getting a movie, a job,” Shields said.

The dinner ended with the Hollywood executive bringing her back to his hotel room, where he proceeded to assault her. Shields added, “I didn’t fight. I just froze,” and said she blamed herself for the assault afterward.

In her two-part documentary, which Variety called “fascinating” and “accomplished” in its rave review out of Sundance, Shields opens up for the first time about her earliest experiences in Hollywood. The film tracks her rise as a child advertising model to her sexualization in movies, starting at age 12, in “Pretty Baby” (1978), and then at 15, in “The Blue Lagoon” (1980). The documentary is helmed by Lana Wilson, best known for her Taylor Swift doc “Miss Americana.”

“Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby” debuts April 3 on Hulu.


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17 Mar 2023, 2:44 am

hmmm, i wonder who it was...



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24 Mar 2023, 7:40 pm

NHL suspends Coyotes minority owner Andrew Barroway indefinitely after felony strangulation charge

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Arizona Coyotes minority owner Andrew Barroway was arrested and charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor second-degree assault in Aspen on Thursday, according to a report from the Aspen Daily News.

Police arrested Barroway, 57, at the Limelight Hotel on Monarch St. at 9:35 a.m. on Thursday. Barroway was taken to Pitkin County Jail and remained there until he posted a $2,500 bond on Friday morning.

Barroway is now under a court order that prohibits him from having any contact with his wife, except when it comes to matters involving their children and consuming alcohol, per the report.

The NHL released a statement on Barroway's arrest in which it announced that he has been suspended indefinitely.



Sheryl Lee Ralph says 'famous TV judge' sexually assaulted her
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"Abbott Elementary" star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was raised in Hempstead and attended Uniondale High School, says she once was sexually assaulted by "a famous TV judge" whom she was quick to note was "not Judge [Greg] Mathis. I love him; he's a great man."

Speaking Tuesday on the podcast "Way Up with Angela Yee" to promote her memoir "DIVA 2.0," the Emmy Award winner, 66, recalled being "at a very public place" doing promotion for a TV program. Dressed in a suit, "I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. He and I were on the same network. This man walked in, grabbed me by the back of my neck, turned me around and rammed his nasty … tongue down my throat. And everybody at the network saw it."

Not only saw it, she said, but asked her to stay silent. "Do you know that they did not want any bad press around their show and did not care what had just happened to me," Ralph continued, mimicking the network people's response: " 'It wasn't so bad after all, was it? … It's not that bad, is it? Please, don't say anything. We don't need the bad press — it's a brand-new show. Yours [also] is a new show.' I was, like, 'Lord have mercy.' "

Ralph added that she reached out at the time to New Orleans’ then-mayor, Marc Morial, not specifying how the two knew each other. “He said, ‘You want me to send the police there right now? ‘Cause we will fix his you-know-what right now.’ " Morial’s two terms ran from 1994 to 2002. During that time frame, Ralph was a star of the 1996-2001 UPN sitcom "Moesha."

She also described an earlier experience that in her book she says involved a "famous promoter” who had seen her in "Dreamgirls," the 1981-85 Broadway musical for which she received a Tony Award nomination for her starring role. The unnamed man took her to lunch "to discuss my future in entertainment," she wrote, but she then found "his hand creeping up my thigh."

"It was, like, the third time something like this had happened to me," Ralph said on the podcast. "And I thought to myself, 'What did I do to deserve that?' My skirt is at my knees; I have on a sweater blouse. What made this man think that he could just come over and put his hands on my body … ?"

Then, years later, "I was in a situation and that man walked through the door. He sat down at the table across from me. He did not remember any of this. But I had to let him know what he did that night. … I had to confront him about it. Do you want to know what was the shocking part? Everybody around the table was appalled that I would stand up for myself. … They told me that I should be ashamed of myself and why would I even bring that up? And at the dinner table."


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19 Apr 2023, 5:04 am

F. Murray Abraham Was Kicked Off ‘Mythic Quest’ for Sexual Misconduct

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F. Murray Abraham’s unexpected departure from Mythic Quest last year ahead of the Apple TV+ show’s third season stemmed from sexual misconduct complaints, Rolling Stone has learned.

The 83-year-old’s exit was announced last April with little explanation other than producing studio Lionsgate confirming the news regarding the Oscar-winning actor. “Beyond that, we do not comment on matters concerning personnel,” the studio added. Abraham did not comment at the time.

But Rolling Stone has learned that at least two concerns were raised about Abraham’s behavior. The first incident resulted in Abraham being given a warning and told to keep away from some of the show’s actresses, according to a production source. After a second incident was brought to creator and star Rob McElhenney’s attention, Rolling Stone understands that Abraham was let go from the show.

Abraham joined comedy series Mythic Quest as central character C.W. Longbottom, a fantasy/sci-fi author and head game writer for the show’s namesake video-game studio, known for his ability to flesh out a game’s backstory, coming off as pretentious to his younger colleagues, and described by the Ringer as a “walking cry for sensitivity training.”

Mythic Quest worked in Abraham’s exit from the show with a fitting send-off for his character in the Season Three premiere “Across the Universe,” airing last November. The central characters return to the studio’s offices as a homecoming to Longbottom, who’d spent the past year traveling. However, they soon discover in a letter that Longbottom had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and, with little time left to live, decided to “script” his own ending (heavily borrowing from Thelma & Louise) and drive off a cliff into the Grand Canyon in a Thunderbird, with his remains then launched into space.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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23 Apr 2023, 6:27 pm

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell steps down after investigation into inappropriate conduct

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Jeff Shell, the CEO of NBCUniversal, is leaving the company “effective immediately” after an investigation into “inappropriate conduct,” the media company’s owner, Comcast, announced Sunday.

Comcast did not specify in a statement how Shell violated company policy. Shell said in a statement that he had “an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company.”

As CEO, Shell oversaw a sprawling portfolio of entertainment and news assets that includes the Universal Pictures film studio, NBC News and MSNBC, the cable channels Bravo and E! and other well-known brands.

Comcast said the investigation was led by outside legal counsel.

In his statement, Shell said Sunday was his last day as CEO and apologized for his conduct.

Shell was named as successor to former NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke in late 2019 and formally stepped into the role in January 2020. He was previously the chairman of the company’s film and entertainment unit.

Glad to see that with #MeToo faded from the headlines we have not gone all the way back to pre #MeToo sexual mores like we did after the hubub following the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings back in the ‘90s.


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01 Jun 2023, 12:51 am

Danny Masterson found guilty of rape

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“That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was convicted on two counts of rape Wednesday at his retrial in Los Angeles.

The seven-woman, five-man jury could not reach a verdict on a third count, which alleged Masterson raped a former girlfriend, after having deliberated for over a week, The Associated Press reported.

Masterson, 47, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs while his wife, the actor and model Bijou Phillips, wept. His family and friends sat in stunned silence.

He faces up to 30 years in prison at his sentencing, set for Aug. 4.

The verdict came some six months after Masterson’s first trial, at which he also faced charges of raping three women he met through the Church of Scientology, ended in a mistrial, with jurors leaning toward acquittal.

He was charged with raping the three women — identified at trial as Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #3 — at his Hollywood Hills home from 2001 to 2003.

All three accusers are former members of the Church of Scientology, to which Masterson still belongs.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman