Them too - The Reckoning thread

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Could the #MeToo movement literally kill women? That’s the provocative question asked by University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds (aka “Instapundit”).

Reynolds was referring to preliminary research by Dr. Sarah Perman of the University of Colorado School of Medicine that, “Some bystanders may avoid performing CPR on women because they fear hurting them, or even being accused of sexual assault.”

Dr. Perman noted that:

Respondents expressed concern that touching a woman’s chest could be construed as assault or unwanted sexual touching.

“Men don’t want to appear grabby or awkward placing their hands on a woman’s breast they don’t know,” one response read. Another said, “men are likely afraid of getting accused of some kind of sexual molestation of some sort.”

Related research by Marion Leary, MSN, MPH, of the University of Pennsylvania conducted in a “virtual reality” setting examined how subjects responded when faced with a simulated stranger undergoing unexpected cardiac arrest. Leary found that study participants “performed CPR or used an AED on virtual-reality female victims less than on virtual male victims.”


Dr. Perman listed several factors that participants themselves gave for giving CPR less frequently to women, including:

* Potentially inappropriate touching or exposure

* Fear of being accused of sexual assault

* Fear of causing physical injury

Perman’s survey also noted that, “Worries about accusations of sexual assault or inappropriate touching were cited twice as many times by men as by women, while more women mentioned fear of causing injury.”

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article noting that women in medicine continue to experience sexual harassment at the workplace — and in response, “some men in positions of power now say they are afraid to participate in mentoring relationships with women” and that “they fear false allegations of sexual misconduct that could compromise their reputations and end their careers, even if they were found to be innocent.”

This fear extends to other realms outside medicine and outside the United States. For instance, The Times notes in the UK, “Senior male partners at law firms are refusing to mentor younger women because of fears that unjustified allegations will be made against them.”

Two Long Island nuns have become defiant “#ChurchToo” activists, posting public messages to end abuse in “faith communities” at the same time their convent supervisor, a priest accused of sexual misconduct, was allowed to return to his Brooklyn church.

The Greek Orthodox sisters, shown in their habits, began their Instagram and Facebook campaigns in October as Rev. Gerasimos Makris was reinstated to the pulpit at Holy Cross Church in Bay Ridge.

The Rev. Gerasimos MakrisTNH/Kostas Bej
Makris — an imperious figure who insists on his parishioners kissing his hand — confessed to “inappropriate interactions with two adult women” and an archdiocese “spiritual court” recommended he be banned. But church higher-ups put him back anyway.

The scandal is the latest black eye for the Greek Orthodox church and the Holy Cross parish, whose former leader, the Rev. George Passias, was defrocked after The Post revealed his affair with the married parochial school principal, whom he impregnated, and their kinky “cake crushing” fetish.

On Oct. 10, just as Makris was returning, the nuns began advocating for change, posting powerful photos of themselves holding signs with messages that read: “believe survivors,” “silence isn’t spiritual,” “end rape culture” and “take a stand.”

In a November post, they wrote “Sexual abuse is real. It happens in our families, our local communities + even our faith communities, in every Christian denomination including the Orthodox Church.”

They work with female victims of human trafficking and sell soap and candles to fund their efforts through an enterprise called White Field Farm Soap. Co. The two nuns, whose names are being withheld by The Post, declined to comment.

Makris, 51, who took over at Holy Cross on Ridge Boulevard in 2007, was the former dean of students at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, Mass. The college’s graduate school of theology trains men and women “for service to the church” including future priests and nuns.

The allegations against Makris surfaced in the fall of 2017, from a woman who was “made to feel unnecessarily uncomfortable with interactions” with the priest including “hugs lasting too long etc. but nothing overtly sexual,” Bishop Andonios Paropoulos, the chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, told The Post.

He said Makris was told to have no contact with the woman. During a meeting in January, the priest revealed he had relations with two other women “and while they were not of the usual sexual interactions one thinks of, they were inappropriate,” the bishop said.

“Father was immediately suspended,” he said. He added the women had not contacted the Archdiocese.

The bishop, in a Feb. 2 letter to the Holy Cross community, said Makris would not return to the parish and that the prelate had admitted to “inappropriate relations” with two women — one in Massachusetts and one in Brooklyn. He did not mention the third woman.

Makris was sent for treatment but, surprisingly, his parishioners wanted him back, the bishop claimed.

y summer, a therapist told the bishop that Makris “could return to active ministry.” At that point, a council of three other priests known as a spiritual court met to evaluate the matter.

“They did recommend that he not go back to his previous assignment,” Bishop Andonios said.

Nevertheless, Andonios said he decided to reinstate Makris because parishioners demanded it.

“We were informed that the parishioners felt so strongly that they would protest in front of the Archdiocese for the return of their priest,” he said.

“I would not have returned a clergyman to his former parish after what transpired but out of pastoral sensitivity to the desires of the overwhelming numbers of parishioners who sought his return,” he said.

The Greek Archdiocese of America, which is based on the Upper East Side, has also faced financial scandal recently. Its signature cathedral, the St. Nicholas Shrine project at Ground Zero, is half built and construction stalled a year ago when the archdiocese ran out of money amid investigations into church spending.

“They keep supporting their own despite the worst stories, the worst circumstances,” said one church insider. “Whether it’s the embarrassment of an incomplete St. Nicholas or this Makris story, the leadership of our church whether on 79th street or Istanbul are tone deaf and out of touch.

“It’s embarrassing and heartbreaking and must change.”

According to legal documents obtained by The Blast, the woman is alleging that the Kiss singer-bassist “forcefully placed his hand on her vagina.”

The alleged incident reportedly took place at the opening of a restaurant owned by Simmons – ‘Rock & Brews’ in 2016. The women who has made the allegations was working as a dishwasher in the restaurant two years ago when Simmons is alleged to have touched the claimant.

The woman claims that she didn’t know who Simmons was but was asked to appear in a photo with him at which point she alleges: “he reached over and forcefully placed his hand on her vagina, completely covering it.”

Simmons has yet to make any official comment on the allegations.

She also claims that Simmons behaved “in a sexually charged manner with other women.” The claimant is reportedly seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.

A year ago, Simmons was sued for sexual battery by another woman who alleged that the star made “unwanted, unwarranted sexual advances” during an interview. In July, the musician reportedly settled the case for an undisclosed amount of money.

The CBS Corporation, battered by scandal and facing a leadership vacuum, said its former chief executive, Leslie Moonves, misled the company about multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and tried to hide evidence as he made a frenzied attempt to save his legacy and reap a lucrative severance. As a result, the company said Mr. Moonves would not receive his $120 million exit payout.

“We have determined that there are grounds to terminate for cause, including his willful and material misfeasance, violation of company policies and breach of his employment contract, as well as his willful failure to cooperate fully with the company’s investigation,” the CBS board said in a statement on Monday.

The board, which met over several days last week, decided on Monday afternoon after reviewing information gathered by lawyers hired by the company to investigate claims against Mr. Moonves, who was forced out in September, as well as the broader workplace culture at the network.

Mr. Moonves “engaged in multiple acts of serious nonconsensual sexual misconduct in and outside of the workplace, both before and after he came to CBS in 1995,” according to a late November draft of the investigators’ report reviewed by The New York Times.

The lawyers had gathered ample evidence showing Mr. Moonves had violated CBS policies, including lying to investigators and deleting texts that revealed his attempts to silence an accuser. Mr. Moonves has denied all the allegations and said any sexual acts he engaged in were consensual.

Mr. Moonves could still contest the board’s ruling and fight for his severance through arbitration. He could argue the company violated the confidentiality terms of his exit agreement when the internal investigation became public.

“The conclusions of the CBS board were foreordained and are without merit,” Andrew Levander, a lawyer for Mr. Moonves, said in a statement. “Consistent with the pattern of leaks that have permeated this ‘process,’ the press was informed of these baseless conclusions before Mr. Moonves, further damaging his name, reputation, career and legacy.”

"Orange Is the New Black" actress Yael Stone alleged actor Geoffrey Rush engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior when they starred in "The Diary of a Madman" in 2010.

Speaking to The New York Times , the 33-year-old said Rush danced naked in front of her in their dressing room, used a mirror to watch her while she showered and sent her occasionally erotic texts.

Stone said she "enthusiastically and willingly" replied to the texts from her fellow Australian actor when she was 25 and he was 59.

"I was so flattered that someone like that would spend their time texting me into the very early hours of the morning," she said. "Gradually the text messages became more sexual in nature, but always encased in this very highfalutin intellectual language."

In a statement , Rush said the allegations "are incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context."

"However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work. I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress. This, most certainly, has never been my intention," Rush said.

The allegations came as Rush awaited a verdict in a defamation lawsuit that he filed in Australia.

Rush sued the Daily Telegraph's publisher, Nationwide News, and a journalist over two articles and a newspaper poster published in 2017. They related to a report he behaved inappropriately toward a co-star during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear in 2015 and 2016.

The Academy Award-winning actor denied the allegation.

Two actresses are showing support for "Bull" star Michael Weatherly after he was accused of harassment. A New York Times report detailed a $9.5 million settlement to Eliza Dushku, who was written off the CBS show after she confronted Weatherly about his alleged behavior.

Dushku played a lawyer alongside Weatherly for three episodes in the first season of "Bull." The report found there were "well-developed plans" to make her a full-time cast member, but those plans allegedly ended after she came forward with allegations against Weatherly.

Among the allegations: he told "a rape joke" and said in "front of the cast and crew" he "would bend her over his leg and spank her."

After being written off the show, Dushku entered mediation with CBS. The network agreed this year to pay her a confidential settlement.

Over the weekend, Weatherly's former "NCIS" co-star Pauley Perrette posted a photo of herself next to Weatherly on Twitter. "This man… I love, respect, trust and I KNOW. TWO decades of friendship and respect," she wrote.

In May, Perrette posted tweets implying she left "NCIS" because of what she called a "crime." She also tweeted about "multiple physical assaults." In a statement, CBS said she approached them about a "workplace concern" and they "worked with her to find a resolution." But neither Perrette nor CBS gave specifics about her accusations.

Actress Sasha Alexander, who also appeared on "NCIS," defended her former co-star as well. She posted a photo of herself with Weatherly on Twitter, writing, "I have been in trenches w/ my friend."

Weatherly told the New York Times he apologized to Dushku when she confronted him, but he denied asking for her to be removed from the show.

Actor Kevin Spacey will be charged with indecent assault and battery, stemming from an incident that took place at a Nantucket, Massachusetts restaurant in 2016, Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe announced Monday.

Spacey is scheduled to be arraigned on January 7.

CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment.

The announcement coincides with Spacey posting a bizarre video to YouTube entitled, "Let Me Be Frank." The title is a play on Spacey's former "House of Cards" character, Frank Underwood.

"I know what you want," Spacey says while staying in character as Underwood. "Oh sure, they may have tried to separate us, but what we have is too strong, too powerful. After all, we shared everything, you and I. I told you my deepest, darkest secrets. I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honestly, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn't. So we're not done, no matter what anyone says. And besides, I know what you want. You want me back."
He also says, "I can promise you this. If I didn't pay the price for the things we both know I did do, I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn't do."

It's unclear if Spacey is referring to the numerous allegations of past sexual misconduct he has been accused of since October 2017. He apologized to actor Anthony Rapp for making a pass at the then 14-year-old some 30 years ago, but said he did not recall the incident.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of Virginia issued a statement Monday morning denying an unsubstantiated allegation of sexual assault that a right-wing media site published amid extraordinary political turmoil in the state that has raised the possibility of Mr. Fairfax becoming the next governor.

In a statement issued at 2:55 a.m., aides to Mr. Fairfax — a Democrat who has drawn national attention as Gov. Ralph Northam considers resigning over past racist behavior — said the allegation was “false” and that Mr. Fairfax had “never assaulted anyone — ever — in any way, shape or form.” The aides said that Mr. Fairfax is considering “appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.”

The Times has reached out to intermediaries for the woman who has made the allegation. They did not immediately comment on Monday.

The Fairfax aides said The Washington Post investigated the allegation around the time of the lieutenant governor’s inauguration in January 2018 and chose not to publish a story.

The Post published a story on Monday that partially disputed the Fairfax statement. According to the Post story, the woman contacted the newspaper after Mr. Fairfax won election in November 2017 and alleged that he had sexually assaulted her in 2004 soon after they met in Boston at the Democratic National Convention.

The Post had been unable to corroborate her allegations, which Mr. Fairfax had denied, according to Monday’s story. The Post, however, disputed the Fairfax statement’s assertion that the newspaper had found inconsistencies and red flags in the woman’s allegation; the newspaper labeled those assertions as incorrect.

This is Biden. You owe it to yourself to watch this thread of images to see his clear pattern of predatory behavior over many years.

https://twitter.com/i/moments/930120742422716416

For nearly two decades, Ryan Adams, one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of his generation, has been heralded as a mercurial creative genius and a respected industry tastemaker.

Equal parts punk-rock folk hero and romantic troubadour, Adams, 44, has 16 albums and seven Grammy nominations to his name. He has overseen music by Willie Nelson, written a Tim McGraw hit and recorded with John Mayer.

He has also taken a special interest in the trajectory of female artists, especially younger ones, championing them onstage, across social media and in the studio, where his stamp of approval can jump-start careers.

Some now say that Adams’s rock-star patronage masked a darker reality. In interviews, seven women and more than a dozen associates described a pattern of manipulative behavior in which Adams dangled career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex. In some cases, they said, he would turn domineering and vengeful, jerking away his offers of support when spurned, and subjecting women to emotional and verbal abuse, and harassment in texts and on social media. The accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at the time, as well as by correspondence from Adams reviewed by The New York Times.

From a teenager living in a small town to his ex-wife, the singer and actress Mandy Moore, these artists said Adams exploited and then stifled their ambitions. “Music was a point of control for him,” Moore said.

When Adams began corresponding online with a fan, Ava, in 2013, she was a 14-year-old bass player already forging a career.

But their correspondence about music turned into graphic texting. Eventually, Ava said, they conducted video calls on Skype, where Adams exposed himself during phone sex.

The Times has reviewed extensive communication between the two, including 3,217 text messages they exchanged over a nine-month period when Ava was 15 and 16. (The Times is identifying Ava, now 20, by her middle name because she was a minor during their online relationship. They never met in person.)

In the texts, Adams questioned Ava repeatedly about her age, and sometimes she said she was older than she was. Though he did not seem convinced, their sexual conversations continued. “i would get in trouble if someone knew we talked like this,” Adams wrote to her in November 2014.

Andrew B. Brettler, Adams’s lawyer, said that the singer did not recall these exchanges. “Mr. Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage,” Brettler said.

Through Brettler, Adams said that he did not have the power to make or break careers and categorically denied the “extremely serious and outlandish accusations” in The Times’s reporting. Adams recalled the interactions with the women differently, his lawyer said, referring to some of the allegations as “grousing by disgruntled individuals” who blamed Adams for personal or professional disappointments and were now out to harm him.

After this article was published online, Adams posted a series of tweets in which he apologized “to anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally.” But he also continued to dispute the accuracy of the reporting.

Their conversations were on and off, but a constant theme was Adams fretting about Ava’s age — and asking to keep their exchanges secret — while also indulging in sexual scenarios.

“I never see pics of you anymore,” Adams wrote in November 2014, when he had just turned 40 and Ava was newly 16. “You were blowing my mind.” He had pet names for her body parts.

Days later, Adams expressed anxiety: “If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol,” he wrote.

Yet within 10 minutes, the conversation again turned explicit. “I just want you to touch your nipple,” he texted, before again asking about her age. “And tell me that your mom is not gonna kill me if she finds out we even text.”

In response to Adams’s repeated pleas that she tell him she was 18 — “You have to convince me,” he wrote — Ava at times said she was. Sometimes he asked to see identification — “in the hottest way that has ever been done Lol.” She never showed him any ID.

The music world, in which a culture of late nights and boundary-pushing behavior has been normalized, hasn’t been as roiled by the #MeToo movement as other sectors of media and entertainment. But many in the business say that harassment and inequitable treatment of women is pervasive and that the “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll” ethos has shielded men from being held to account.

In an industry where musicians are often the most trusted gatekeepers, Adams was more than just a singer. His Pax-Am label was connected to Capitol Music Group, a major conglomerate, and an opening slot on one of his sold-out tours could introduce an emerging artist to fans and business partners. For more than a decade, until last year, Adams was managed by John Silva, who has worked with Nirvana, Beck and St. Vincent. (Silva and Capitol, which is scheduled to release three albums by Adams this year, declined requests for comment.)

Other women in music said they, too, were subjected to Adams’s intense flattery and a bait and switch in which professional opportunities would be commingled with sexual come-ons.

The musician Phoebe Bridgers was 20 when Adams invited her to the Pax-Am studio one night in fall 2014. “There was a mythology around him,” she said. “It seemed like he had the power to propel people forward.”

But as they discussed the record, Adams started sending Bridgers flirty texts, she said, and a whirlwind romance commenced. Bridgers said the singer began discussing marriage less than a week into their relationship, and insisted that she open for him on his European tour in a few weeks — “a golden pillar of success,” she recalled. Adams told Bridgers’s mother that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to have someone like him looking out for her.

Yet in the weeks that followed, Adams’s attention turned obsessive and emotionally abusive, Bridgers said. He began barraging her with texts, insisting that she prove her whereabouts, or leave social situations to have phone sex, and threatening suicide if she didn’t reply immediately.

When she broke off the relationship, Bridgers said, Adams became evasive about releasing the music they had recorded together and rescinded the offer to open his upcoming concerts.

When three songs by Bridgers were eventually released by Pax-Am in April 2015, bringing her serious industry attention, the media gave Adams credit for her nascent career.

Through his lawyer, Adams contested how Bridgers described their relationship, calling it “a brief, consensual fling,” though he did not recall any flirty texts. He never told Bridgers he would withhold her songs, he said.

Bridgers said that after their breakup, Adams continued to tease opportunities while pursuing her. He offered her a few dates opening for him on tour in 2017, and after much discussion with her manager about Adams’s behavior, Bridgers said she accepted because it was a big opportunity before the release of her debut album.

“Then, the first day, he asked me to bring him something in his hotel room,” she said. “I came upstairs and he was completely nude.” (Adams, through his lawyer, denied this incident.)

Two additional female singer-songwriters, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, described a similar pattern of behavior from Adams: raving about their work and offering tour spots amid aggressive romantic pursuit, followed by harassing messages and threats of professional retaliation when the relationships did not progress as he wanted.

Another artist, Courtney Jaye, who was then 35 and not signed to a label, got a direct message from Adams on Twitter in 2013 with immediate offers to collaborate. “You are a psychedelic Ronstadt hybrid,” he gushed. “Come let’s make some music.” They exchanged messages about what her next album should sound like, and Adams offered to produce it, she said.

But when they got together days later to work on ideas, Adams began remarking on Jaye’s appearance and moving in on her — “Hurricane Ryan,” as she described him. She said she tried to deflect his attention, and failed; having been victimized before, Jaye added, “I just shut myself off.” They wound up in bed, but didn’t have sex.

Even for an artist like Moore, now a star of the hit series “This Is Us,” Adams could wield his influence in damaging ways.

When they met in 2007, she was 23, he a decade older. Professionally, Moore was at a turning point: She was exiting her teen-pop years, and his reputation as a sensitive, authentic voice provided the artistic credibility she craved. In 2010, Adams offered to work on her next album; when she parted ways with her music manager, Adams discouraged her from working with other producers or managers, she said, effectively leaving him in charge of her music career.

They wrote songs together regularly that Adams promised to record, but never did. He booked them time at his studio, only to replace her with other female artists, she said. And he lashed out in ways that Moore came to consider psychologically abusive.

Adams lorded his artistic accomplishments over her, she said. “He would always tell me, ‘You’re not a real musician, because you don’t play an instrument.’”

She released her sixth LP, completed before their marriage, shortly after they wed in 2009, and has released no albums since. “His controlling behavior essentially did block my ability to make new connections in the industry during a very pivotal and potentially lucrative time — my entire mid-to-late 20s,” she said. Their divorce was finalized in 2016.

Megan Butterworth, Adams’s ex-fiancée, also described him as a controlling and emotionally abusive partner, who later targeted her with digital harassment. During their relationship, he isolated her socially and professionally, she said, trying to dictate who she saw or worked with. And he could turn rageful, smashing things and physically intimidating her, she said, though he never hit her.

Adams also posted images of Butterworth to his Instagram account, tagging her friends and even a family member: “Get it while it’s hot folks,” one read. “[Butterworth] IS SINGLE.”

Only recently did the women discover that their experiences overlapped. And in the last few months, Moore and several others who said they were scarred by their relationships with Adams have found one another, creating a support system.

Realizing they were not alone, the women chose to speak out about their experiences in the hopes of protecting others and moving forward, they said.

R&B singer R. Kelly was charged on Friday with multiple criminal counts of sexual abuse of several underage victims, Chicago officials said.

Kelly, 52, faces 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in Chicago.

A judge issued a warrant for the singer's arrest on Friday afternoon.

The indictment released on Friday listed four victims, at least three of whom were under 17 at the time they were allegedly victimized by Kelly. They were identified only by initials in the court papers.

The alleged sex acts occurred between May 1998 and January 2010, prosecutors said.

A bond hearing for Kelly is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, and his arraignment is set for March 8.

He faces up to three to seven years in prison for each charge if convicted.

Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, has been criminally accused of sexual misconduct before. He was tried on child pornography charges in 2008. A jury cleared him on all counts.

But allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer gained renewed attention this year with the airing of a Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" in early January.

Sen. Martha McSally, during an emotional congressional hearing on military sexual assault Wednesday, said a superior Air Force officer raped her.

McSally, the nation's first U.S. Air Force female fighter pilot to serve in combat, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that she was “preyed upon and raped by a superior officer."

"I also am a military sexual assault survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn’t report being sexually assaulted," McSally said. "Like so many women and men, I didn’t trust the system at the time. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways."

McSally served in the Air Force for 26 years and mostly flew the A-10 fighter.

"I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I too was a survivor," she continued. "I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again."

"But I didn’t quit," said Mcsally. "I decided to stay and continue to serve and fight and lead. To be a voice from within the ranks for women--and then in the House and now the Senate."

n January, the Pentagon released its report on sexual assault in military service academies, finding a nearly 50 percent spike in the prevalence of unwanted sexual contact at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Pentagon officials were concerned about the significant increase, as well as the fact that the number of incidents reported directly to authorities remained relatively unchanged.