Politics, pop culture and entertainment news of interest to the LGBTQ community
Kevin Spacey was ordered this week to pay nearly $31 million in damages to MRC, the producing company behind Spacey’s former Netflix series “House of Cards.” Continue reading “Kevin Spacey Ordered To Pay $31 Million To ‘House Of Cards’”
Comedian Bill Cosby will be released from prison within hours today as Pennsylvania’s high court has reportedly overturned his conviction for sex assault.
According to the ruling, because a previous prosecutor chose not to charge Cosby, the actor felt he could speak freely about the incident. His remarks ultimately led to his being found guilty.
Cosby was convicted of three aggravated indecent assault counts and sentenced in 2018 to 3-10 years in prison.
From the New York Post:
Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday after finding an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case.
Cosby has served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia. He had vowed to serve all 10 years rather than acknowledge any remorse over the 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand.
The 83-year-old Cosby, who was once beloved as “America’s Dad,” was convicted of drugging and molesting the Temple University employee at his suburban estate.
More from NBC News:
The state Supreme Court said a previous prosecutor’s decision not to charge Cosby, 83, opened the door for him to speak freely in a civil lawsuit against him — and that testimony was key in the comic’s conviction in criminal court.
“When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment (and in some instances upon the advice of counsel), denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade,” according to the high court opinion.
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: Former Army Captain Roberto Portales (above) says his pups love the head massages. The Brody and Miss Scarlett happily concur with that sentiment. #DogsRule
• The Advocate: Ten days after coming out as a lesbian on Facebook, Private First Class Kaylie Harris filed a complaint after allegedly being sexually assaulted by a fellow service member. But when the military removed a protective order that let her come into contact with her alleged rapist, the encounter left Harris reeling. Days later, she bought a handgun and died by suicide.
• Deadline Hollywood: Samuel E. Wright, whose vocal portrayal of Sebastian the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid included the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea,” died yesterday at his home in the village of Walden, New York, of prostate cancer. The Broadway veteran (Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, The Lion King) was 74.
Samuel E. Wright Dies: ‘The Little Mermaid’s Sebastian The Crab, Broadway’s Mufasa Was 74 https://t.co/9TRY691DDn
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) May 25, 2021
• Washington Post: 64.4 million Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, covering 58.7% of the eligible population, 12 and older and 49.5% of the total population.
• The Guardian: Bloggers and influencers have been offered money by a PR agency with apparent Russian connections to falsely tell their followers the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is responsible for hundreds of deaths. The company has since closed its website and made its Instagram account private.
• Kansas City Star: Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel (R-Wellsville) is facing 3 misdemeanor battery charges involving two 16-year-old student while substitute teaching last month. One student told police Samsel kicked him in the testicles. Samsel reportedly told investigators he was following instructions from God.
Police: Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel left student with bruise, kicked him in testicles https://t.co/GZF5XP1c8C
— The Kansas City Star (@KCStar) May 25, 2021
Axios is reporting the prominent sexual harassment lawyer representing Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who has accused Joe Biden of sexual assault in 1993, has announced his office is not representing Reade any longer.
While Wigdor did not provide a reason behind his firm’s decision, he did say that the move is “by no means a reflection” on the veracity of her allegations.
Some of Wigdor’s most notable cases have taken on Fox News, including former top host Bill O’Reilly, and Harvey Weinstein.
Despite his caseload, Wigdor has also garnered press for being a staunch conservative and supporter of President Trump.
Biden has flatly denied Reade’s allegations.
The big picture: The development comes a day after California defense attorneys said they are reviewing cases in which Reade testified as an expert on domestic violence, following concerns that she misrepresented her academic qualifications.
Additionally, CNN has recently reported problems with Reade’s claim that she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch University in Seattle; the school denied to CNN that she ever graduated from the university.
As a result, defense attorneys in California say they are now reviewing cases in which Reade testified as an expert based, in part, on her educational credentials.
This is the full statement from Wigdor’s law firm:
“Our Firm no longer represents Tara Reade. Our decision, made on May 20, is by no means a reflection on whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted Ms. Reade. On that point, our view which is the same view held by the majority of Americans, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll has not changed. We also believe to a large extent Ms. Reade has been subjected to a double standard in terms of the media coverage she has received.
“Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters. We genuinely wish Ms. Reade well and hope that she, as a survivor, is treated fairly. We have and will continue to represent survivors regardless of their alleged predator’s status or politics.”
Some news items you might have missed:
• InstaHunks: Woofy Joe Blizzard (above) is giving you boo-boo face over having to deal with home-gym workouts. Don’t worry, Joe, the gyms will open soon. Follow him on Insta here.
• Deadline: In surprising news, Ruby Rose, the star of the CW’s freshman drama series Batwoman, is leaving the Warner Bros. TV/Berlanti Prods. drama after one season. The series, which already has been renewed for a second season, will continue with the title role getting recast. Rose, an alum of Orange is the New Black, returned to the small screen with Batwoman, playing the first gay lead character — male or female — of a live-action superhero series.
• ABC News: After nine homes over five years, 17-year-old Michael was adopted by Chad and Paul Beanblossom of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Despite the coronavirus pandemic shutting down court proceedings, 80 people including friends, family and adoption specialists witnessed the special moment unfold over the Zoom teleconferencing app.
• The Gaily Grind: Matt Belanger, an Emmy-winning news anchor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was viciously attacked in what police believe was a hate crime fueled by homophobia. He suffered an eye injury which could result in permanent vision damage. Vennie Jerome Williams, 39, was arrested in connection to the assault. While in police custody, authorities said Williams “made statements indicating that he assaulted [Belanger] because he perceived that [he] was homosexual.”
• Politico: More vetting of Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault by former Vice President Joe Biden reveals those who have tried to help her in the past were left with an unsavory impression. A number of those who crossed paths with Reade say they remember two things: She spoke favorably about her time working for Biden, and she left them feeling duped.
• The Advocate: CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last Thursday, that along with his newborn son Wyatt, he considers being gay “one of the great blessings” of his life.
Some news items you might have missed:
• Billboard: Emmy Award winner RuPaul (above) raised nearly $100,000 for Planned Parenthood during a special nighttime edition of the long-running game show, The Price Is Right.
• Reuters: Albania’s leading psychologists’ organization has prohibited members from practicing so-called “conversion therapy” which aims to make gay people straight. Albania joins Germany and Malta as the third country in the EU to ban the practice.
• PBS News Hour: The venerable news outlet interviewed 74 former staffers for Joe Biden in regard to Tara Reade’s allegations that the former vice president sexually assaulted her in 1993. None of the people interviewed said that they had experienced sexual harassment, assault or misconduct by Biden. All said they never heard any rumors or allegations of Biden engaging in sexual misconduct, until the recent assault allegation made by Reade.
• The Advocate: As a huge fan of the 1970s sci-fi series The Bionic Woman, I found this article, exploring why the show resonates so deeply with feminist and LGBTQ audiences, fascinating.
• HuffPost: Taking a page from his dad’s playbook, Eric Trump insisted in an interview that COVID-19 will “magically” disappear — after Election Day. He claimed that the coronavirus that has killed 312,000 people around the globe — including nearly 90,000 Americans — is a ploy cooked-up by the Democrats to stop Donald Trump from rallying his supporters at campaign events.
• New Music: Eurovision’s 2018 champion Netta is back with her new song “Cuckoo”, a devastating heartbreaker of a ballad that feels eerily poignant given the state of the world currently.
The song debuted as a part of Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light which aired in 46 countries and included this touching video of Netta performing the track with a custom-made music box. The studio recording of the single is also available now.
The track is a noticeable departure for the Israeli artist/composer/songwriter who has become famous garnering over 1 billion streams globally for her bombastic, colorful, and high-adrenaline pop songs like “Toy” which led to her win at the Eurovision competition.
Former Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, in a statement from his campaign, explicitly denied accusations that he sexually assaulted a former aide during his time in the Senate.
I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They aren’t true. This never happened.
While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated.
One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny.
Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.
More from the Washington Post:
Biden echoed his denial on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” shortly after the statement was released. He also called on the National Archives to release any record of a complaint that the former aide, Tara Reade, says she filed. “If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there,” said Biden.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, the National Archives said that “any records of Senate personnel complaints from 1993 would have remained under the control of the Senate.”
“Accordingly, inquiries related to these records should be directed to the Senate,” the statement added.
Reade has said that she filed a complaint with a congressional human resources or personnel office but did not remember the exact name. Her complaint dealt only with the alleged harassment, not the alleged assault, she said. The Post could find no record of the complaint, and Reade said she didn’t have a copy.
In an MSNBC interview with host Mika Brzezinski, Biden appeared from his makeshift home television studio in Delaware. It was the first time he faced questions on the allegations in a public setting.
“I don’t remember any type of complaint she may have made,” Biden said in the interview, when asked if he remembered Reade or the complaint. “It was 27 years ago, and I don’t remember. Nor does anyone else that I’m aware of.”
Joe Biden, asked on @Morning_Joe if he sexually assaulted Tara Reade:
“No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally it never, never happened. And it didn’t. It never happened.” pic.twitter.com/nXIAdGloG5
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 1, 2020
Reade made her initial accusation last year to several news outlets: that Biden had put his hands on her shoulders and neck when she was working in his Senate office and it made her ‘uncomfortable.’ She says that she brought up the incident to senior aides in the office, but when interviewed those aides told the Washington Post that they had no memory of her allegations.
Reade also says she filed a report about the incident, which she’s characterized as changing ‘the trajectory’ of her life, but says she didn’t keep a copy. No one seems to know anything about the alleged report.
Then during a podcast interview last month, her allegations escalated to claiming Biden sexually assaulted her somewhere on Capitol Hill. She said he pushed her up against a wall, moved his hands up under her skirt and penetrated her.
In a detailed examination of her account two weeks ago, the Washington Post wrote that one of her friends confirmed that Reade had told her of an incident shortly after she said it had occurred.
In that same report, the Post wrote that Reade’s brother, Collin Moulton, acknowledged that she had told him in 1993 that Biden had touched her neck and shoulders. But there was no mention of the actual sexual assault – clearly the most important aspect of the alleged incident.
Interestingly, days after the interview, he sent messages via texts adding that he “recalled her telling him that Biden had put his hand under her clothes.'”
At this point in this post, I want to state clearly: I have personally been the target of sexual misconduct in the workplace in the past. Additionally, I was sexually assaulted during a first “date” in the early 1990s.
I firmly believe anyone who raises such allegations should be taken seriously and the accusations should be properly vetted. That said, I don’t think every single accusation should be blindly taken as truth.
While Biden has been accused of over-hugging in the past, which has often been attributed to his age and how men acted in the past, he’s since acknowledged times have changed and he plans to be more aware of touching people.
Michael J. Stern, a 28-year federal and state prosecutor who handled numerous sexual assault cases, penned an op-ed for USA Today explaining his skepticism regarding Reade’s allegations.
I encourage you to read it in full, but some of the issues he raises are:
• Reade waiting 27 years to make her accusations public.
• She spoke with a newspaper last year and accused Biden of touching her in a way that made her uncomfortable — but neglected to mention her claim that he forcibly penetrated her with his fingers. She later said she felt uncomfortable with the reporter, but as Stern points out, why would it take a year to find a qualified journalist to tell her story to?
• The New York Times and the Washington Post have cumulatively interviewed dozens of people in the past month about Reade’s accusation and no other allegations of sexual assault by Biden arose. As Stern writes, “In my experience, men who commit a sexual assault are accused more than once … like Donald Trump, who has had more than a dozen allegations of sexual assault leveled against him and who was recorded bragging about grabbing women’s genitalia.”
• Biden campaigned and went on to become Vice President of the United States for 8 years, but Reade never said anything during that time.
• In 2017, on multiple occasions, Reade retweeted or “liked” praise for Biden and his work combating sexual assault. It is bizarre that Reade would publicly laud Biden for combating the very thing she would later accuse him of doing to her.
• By January of 2020, though, Reade had become a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders and penned an essay on Medium saying the Democratic party was trying to “shove” Biden down Democrats throats. She also wrote approvingly of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Speaking of timing, Stern notes that Reade’s allegations didn’t escalate to full-on sexual assault until Biden began to win in the Democratic primaries in March.
There’s much more in Stern’s USA Today op-ed and I encourage you to read it.
One more thing I’ll add here.
On the same day Reade accused Joe Biden of sexual assault in March, she apparently edited her previous statements posted to her Medium account to better match the new allegations. At that link, a journalist has compared and highlighted the numerous additions and deletions made on March 24, 2020.
Why would she alter her original words without mentioning the amendment on her post…on the DAY she accused him of sexual assault?
As I earlier stated, I believe allegations of sexual assault should be taken seriously. But believing ALL accusations blindly doesn’t serve women, the #MeToo movement or truth as a whole.
A California high school has canceled the remainder of its football season amid allegations of sexual battery between players in a locker room altercation after a practice last week.
Gilroy High School officials say a majority of players have chosen not to finish the season as a result of the alleged assault and subsequent investigation.
Mercury News reports that the incident “involved four students that assaulted a fellow student after school.”
The student who was allegedly attacked went to school officials on September 26, and after an investigation, juvenile citations for sexual battery were issued to four students.
“We investigated the allegations and determined there was evidence to support a criminal complaint.,” said Gilroy police Capt. Joseph Deras. “The aggravating circumstance was the number of suspects involved, and the use of force or fear played a role in our arresting decision.”
Deras added that the investigator’s reports have been forwarded to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office for review to determine if the students will face prosecution.
Because all of the individuals involved are minors, few details – including the names of the students – have been revealed.
Police say there is currently no evidence that the alleged assault was a “hate-motivated crime.”
The local CBS News affiliate KPIX reports that some students say they’d heard “several players were ‘roughhousing’ with one teammate and may have taken it too far.”
KPIX adds that the remaining football season was forfeited because “only nine players remain on the team after others quit in protest.”
Watching these and other news reports, the Gilroy High School students are apparently divided over the issue.
In some interviews, there are students that seem to blame the alleged victim for the scandal…?
Here’s an earlier report from KBCW:
(lead photo via Depositphotos)
A massage therapist, who was permitted to anonymously file a lawsuit against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey (above screen capture) for sexual assault, has apparently died.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spacey’s legal team filed a notice in court that the accuser’s attorneys had notified them on September 11 that their client had ‘recently passed.’
No details regarding the therapist’s death were disclosed.
The plaintiff, using the name ‘John Doe,’ filed suit in September 2018 alleging Spacey forced him to grope the actor’s genitals twice during a massage at Spacey’s private residence in October 2016.
After asking to leave, Doe claimed Spacey offered him oral sex.
Doe was suing for battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.
In April, Spacey’s attorneys asked a federal judge to order the accuser to identify himself or dismiss the lawsuit.
But in May, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew ruled the massage therapist’s lawsuit could continue anonymously due to his “vulnerability to humiliation, harassment, and threats” which was “exacerbated by the nature of Defendant’s status as a high-profile celebrity and the media attention that comes with it.”
In light of that ruling, the two legal teams had begun planning for what many expected to be a seven to eleven-day trial.
In August, there were reports that the therapist claimed to know of two other “masseur victims” of Spacey’s “sexual assaults who expressed concern for their safety and/or do not want their names revealed publicly in the media.”
The lawsuit could still continue, although according to The Hollywood Reporter the issue of anonymity could become complicated.
For the family of the accuser to show standing, they would probably have to identify the accuser. The judge may not be as inclined to protect the privacy of a deceased man since he would no longer be ‘vulnerable to humiliation.’
In July, prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped criminal charges against Spacey just days after his accuser invoked his Fifth Amendment rights while on the witness stand.
Spacey was facing charges of indecent assault and battery in connection to allegations of ‘groping’ an 18-year-old male at a Nantucket bar.
But the case fell apart when the teen’s cellphone went missing. Spacey’s lawyers alleged the teen and his mother had altered text messages before handing the phone over to the police.
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| Kevin Spacey |
Prosecutors in Massachusetts have dropped criminal charges against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey just days after his accuser invoked his Fifth Amendment rights while on the witness stand.
Spacey was facing charges of indecent assault and battery in connection to allegations stemming from an incident in 2016 where he was accused of ‘groping’ an 18-year-old male at a Nantucket bar, the Club Car Bar, where the then-18-year-old worked.
According to the accuser, he was a fan who sought to meet Spacey for an autograph. Over a period of time, Spacey bought the teen a few alcoholic drinks.
In chat messages to his girlfriend, the accuser claimed Spacey ‘groped’ his leg and eventually worked his hands down the boy’s pants where the groping continued for about three minutes. The teen admitted he didn’t try to stop Spacey.
Spacey pleaded not guilty to the charges in January adamantly denying he forced his hands down the young man’s pants, calling the incident a “mutual and consensual flirtation.”
Local CBS news affiliate WBZ reports the accuser and his parents were ordered to testify under oath after telling the court the young man’s cellphone, which he used the night of the alleged assault to send multiple text messages, could not be found.
The accuser says he gave the phone to investigators early in the investigation and it was never returned.
But a state trooper gave testimony he had given the phone back to the family, and another officer testified he saw the trooper hand over the phone to the family. The trooper also testified the boy’s mother shared that she’d deleted “frat boy activities” from the phone.
Spacey’s lawyers had asked to examine the phone to recover deleted text messages they said would bolster Spacey’s case.
The young man denied deleting messages from the phone or editing screen captures of his chat conversations from the night of the alleged incident he had provided to investigators.
But when defense attorneys asked the young man if he knew tampering with evidence is crime, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
At that point, Judge Thomas Barrett ordered the testimony removed from the court record, and turned to the prosecutors asking how the trial could move forward if the accuser would refuse to testify.
During that same hearing, the accuser’s mother, former Boston news anchor Heather Unruh, admitted she “deleted a few things” from the phone concerning her son’s “frat boy activities” before handing it over to the authorities. But added there was “no intent” on her part to deceive.
According to WBZ, Cape and Island District Attorney Michael O’Keefe announced on Wednesday the charges against Spacey were being dropped “due to an unavailability of the complaining witness.”
This comes two weeks after the accuser also chose to drop a civil lawsuit against Spacey.
There was speculation that a private settlement between the parties had been reached, but the young man’s mother denied there was any payment or settlement between the two camps.
The accuser’s attorney told the press the civil lawsuit was dropped because the young man was ‘overwhelmed’ and wanted only “one roller coaster ride at a time.”
Spacey’s career virtually collapsed beginning in November 2017 after a series of allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment beginning with actor Anthony Rapp telling Buzzfeed that Spacey made inappropriate sexual advances towards him when he was 14-years-old in 1986.
More allegations followed which led to Spacey being fired from his Netflix series, House of Cards, replaced in an already-completed movie, All the Money in the World. Additionally, he was dropped by both his agent and publicist.
Earlier this month, Varietyreported that Scotland Yard is still investigating sexual assault allegations regarding Spacey during his time as the artistic director of the Old Vic theater in London.