Tag: sexual assault

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Kavanaugh Defender: Instead Of Rape, Maybe It Was Just ‘Rough Horseplay?’

Republicans need to all get in one room and come up with a singular defense for their Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, when trying to tamp down the recent allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl back in his high school days.

Kavanaugh has already issued statements like “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes” and telling an aide to Sen. Orrin Hatch that he wasn’t even “at the party in question.”

Then today, Carrie Severino, spokesperson of the Judicial Crisis Network, defended the judge on CNN.

JCN is the campaign group for Republican judicial nominations that handles promoting nominees to the public.

In a new take, Severino tried to make the case that what Kavanaugh’s accuser describes could have been a simple case of “rough horse play” as opposed to attempted rape.

Now, if Kavanaugh has “never done anything like” what Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has alleged, how could it be described as “rough horseplay?”

Or – how could the teenage Kavanaugh have engaged in “rough horseplay” if he wasn’t at the party in question?

I’m not the only one who thought this sounded rather odd…

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh & His Accuser Will Testify Regarding Sexual Assault Claim

udge Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will both testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the allegations of sexual assault dating back to when the two were in high school.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh

And its official: Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will both testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the allegations of sexual assault dating back to when the two were in high school.

From The New York Times:

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, under mounting pressure from senators of his own party, will call President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault before the committee on Monday for extraordinary public hearings just weeks before the midterm elections.

Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, told reporters Monday afternoon that the chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, told senators there would be an “opportunity” for senators to hear from Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, in a public setting where senators would be able to ask questions. Both have said they are willing to testify.

A Senate Republican aide confirmed that it would be on Monday, effectively delaying a planned committee vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, which had been scheduled for this Thursday.

According to reports, Ford has already taken and passed a polygraph test.

I would love to know if Kavanaugh, who has thoroughly denounced the allegations, would be willing to do the same?

Here, via CNN, is the letter Ford sent to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California earlier this summer.

These are the allegations.

Dear Senator Feinstein;

I am writing with information relevant in evaluating the current nominee to the Supreme Court.

As a constituent, I expect that you will maintain this as confidential until we have further opportunity to speak.

Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s. He conducted these acts with the assistance of REDACTED.

Both were one to two years older than me and students at a local private school.

The assault occurred in a suburban Maryland area home at a gathering that included me and four others.

Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stair well from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help.

Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with REDACTED, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me.

From across the room a very drunken REDACTED said mixed words to Kavanaugh ranging from “go for it” to “stop.”

At one point when REDACTED jumped onto the bed the weight on me was substantial. The pile toppled, and the two scrapped with each other. After a few attempts to get away, I was able to take this opportune moment to get up and run across to a hallway bathroom. I locked the bathroom door behind me. Both loudly stumbled down the stair well at which point other persons at the house were talking with them. I exited the bathroom, ran outside of the house and went home.

I have not knowingly seen Kavanaugh since the assault. I did see REDACTED once at the REDACTED where he was extremely uncomfortable seeing me.

I have received medical treatment regarding the assault. On July 6 I notified my local government representative to ask them how to proceed with sharing this information . It is upsetting to discuss sexual assault and its repercussions, yet I felt guilty and compelled as a citizen about the idea of not saying anything.

I am available to speak further should you wish to discuss. I am currently REDACTED and will be in REDACTED.

In confidence, REDACTED.

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Former Marine Pens Op-Ed Regarding Male-On-Male Sexual Assault

A recent New York Times article penned by U.S. Army Captain Justin Rose shares his first-person account of having been the victim of sexual assault during his time as a U.S. Marine.

A recent New York Times article penned by U.S. Army Captain Justin Rose shares his first-person account of having been the victim of sexual assault during his time as a U.S. Marine.

The incident occurred in 2006 while deployed to the Horn of Africa. The perpetrator was a fellow Marine, someone Rose considered a friend.

At the time, Rose told his superiors what had happened, and months later he testified at a court martial along with three other Marines who had reported similar inappropriate sexual misconduct.

But the result of that legal proceeding was for Rose and his fellow Marines to be labeled “liars” and “co-conspirators” who were trying to ruin a man’s reputation.

They were told their stories were not believable, and that the accused was a Midwesterner with a religious background. The military judge refused to buy the four men’s allegations.

What stands out most in Rose’s personal essay was the shame that he felt. He was a Marine – how could he have “let” this happen?

From The New York Times:

Long after the attack itself is over, you’re left dealing with all the toxic doubts and self-blame that come with being sexually assaulted.

I fought with the idea that I somehow invited this upon myself, that I deserved it or was somehow to blame for the assault. It stripped away my confidence and degraded the trust I had in my fellow Marines.

I questioned the values that I first bought into when I became a Marine: the belief in honor, courage and commitment that was instilled by our drill instructors. I didn’t immediately confront my attacker face to face — so where was my courage or honor? How would I react to real combat?

Where was the commitment from my fellow Marines, when I needed support in the aftermath of the attack? Would they be there for me if I needed their help on the battlefield one day?

Before, during and after the military trial, Rose became the subject of constant taunting by his fellow Marines as his noncommissioned officers had shared the allegations.

Rose eventually resigned from the Marines (“I could no longer wear the uniform of the man who assaulted me”) and accepted a commission in the Army Reserve.

In the years since the incident, Rose – like many men who experience male-on-male sexual assault – found the scars of shame and self-doubt to be the most impactful.

Folks’ refusal to believe that a man could sexually assault another man, plus the mockery by his own officers became the most enduring effects of the ordeal.

Even though Rose doesn’t identify as gay in his essay, LGBT people experience the same effects of shame, doubt and more when sexually assaulted.

According to the Center’s for Disease Control’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey:

• 26% of gay men and 37% of bisexual men say they have experienced rape, physical violent or more by an intimate partner

• 44% of lesbians and 61% of bisexual women say they have experienced rape, physical violent or more by an intimate partner

Many LGBTs who experience rape (especially in a dating situation) find it difficult to tell even close friends about the event for fear of not being believed.

I know.

I was the target (I refuse to use the word ‘victim’) of date rape myself back in the early 1990s in New York City. I know exactly how this can happen.

I won’t go into all the details, but I will say what happened was with someone I knew, during the course of a third date.

The person in question invited me to dinner out on Staten Island where he lived.

After dinner we went back to his place and things took an sexual direction, as happens between consenting adults. The attraction was mutual, but soon the guy took a turn and became very aggressive.

Even though I was a strapping, young-30-something who worked out six days a week, he was not only bigger than I, but didn’t hesitate to use pain to restrain me. Extreme pain.

In the moment, after much struggling and using the word “stop” many times, the only thoughts running through my shocked mind were to survive the moment.

The incident went on for about an hour and a half, with him keeping me, and my genitals, in a painful vise grip. Eventually, he fell asleep.

I know most folks would say, “You should have jumped up and left.”

But, by then it was then the middle of the night. I was frightened/stunned out of my mind.

I didn’t know where I was or how to get home to Manhattan’s Upper West Side, AND I was afraid to wake him for fear it would all begin again.

I lay awake the rest of the night keeping an eye on my assailant.

When morning came, he acted as if nothing had happened. It seemed it was all some bondage fantasy that he had indulged in without exploring the issue with me.

When he sensed my tension, he ‘apologized’ saying he didn’t realize I wasn’t ‘into it.’

I found a bus to take me to the Staten Island Ferry and back to Manhattan.

I didn’t have any physical scars but I didn’t share the incident with anyone. Not even my best friends.

When the words would begin to come, all I could feel was the doubt that I hadn’t defended myself enough. That it could have been my own fault.

I know it wasn’t.

A few years later, after I’d met my husband, we encountered the guy in NYC’s West Village in passing. He said ‘hi’ as if nothing had ever happened. But for me, it all came back.

I’m compelled to write this now because Captain Rose’s story reminded me how long that single incident affected me.

I really want folks to know that same-sex, male-on-male assault does, indeed, happen. And no, it’s not your fault.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, I urge you to seek counseling – even if you don’t think you need it. Sometimes, just expressing your thoughts to someone else gets the poison out of you and helps to alleviate some of the sense of shame.

A postscript to Captain Rose’s tale: ten years after his assault, he was contacted by a detective who was putting together a case against his Marine assailant. It turns out the man had gone on to a history of sexual assault and violence.

Rose traveled to Kansas where he once again took the stand to testify against the man.

This time, he was believed and his assailant was convicted, receiving a 49-year prison sentence.

Finally, vindication.

I encourage you to read the full essay at The New York Times here.

And if you or someone you know become the target of sexual assault, one resource to help you is the National Sexual Assault Hotline which can be reached at 1-800-656-4673 24/7 or online at https://ohl.rainn.org/hotlinehttps://ohl.rainn.org/online/.

You can also find more resources at the Human Rights Campaign Sexual Assault webpage.

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News Round-Up: July 25, 2018

A few news items you might have missed: • It’s Hump Day – need I say more? (see above) • Two gay dads were stabbed by their adopted son in Los Angeles, California. #MentalHealthIssues? • Someone did some serious damage to Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. • Twin gay models – the Zakar twins – have accused high-end photographer Rick Day of sexual abuse.

• Cher just dropped the track list of her upcoming ABBA cover album – check the list below.

• Donald Trump is now turning his attention to booting HIV+ soldiers out of the U.S. military. • Virulently anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council president Tony Perkins misses the old days when it was illegal to be gay.

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3 More Men Come Forward With Allegations Of Sexual Assault By Kevin Spacey

Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey

The allegations of ‘inappropriate behavior’ by Oscar winner Kevin Spacey continue to pile up as three more men have come forward accusing Spacey of sexual assault.

All three men say the assaults took place in the 1990s in England. Police in the UK are now investigating six different accusations of assault by the actor.

Concurrently, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is looking into a 1992 accusation of sexual assault against Spacey.

It was in late October of 2017 that the Academy Award winner’s career began to spin out from under him as Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp came forward during the surge of the #MeToo movement to accuse Spacey of making a sexual advance to him in the 1980s when Rapp was only 14-years-old.

Almost immediately, a list of other men came forward with their own reports of sexual impropriety.

The 58-year-old actor was released from his starring role on the hit Netflix series House of Cards after several members of the cast and crew raised their own accusations.

It’s been announced that the final season of House of Cards will focus on Robin Wright’s character of “Claire Underwood.” The series recently released this tease.

Additionally, Spacey was also edited out of the movie All the Money in the World shortly before it’s release and replaced with Christopher Plummer, who would go on to be nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Awards for his work in the film.

According to reports, Spacey’s agent and publicist have severed ties with the actor.

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George Takei’s Accuser Changes His Story Of Drugged Sexual Assault

George Takei (image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

Months ago, as the #MeToo movement was heating up, many folks were surprised when a former model named Scott Brunton came forward to accuse Star Trek actor George Takei of sexual assault dating back to the early 1980s.

The impact on Takei was immediate as the story went viral. Suddenly, social media’s wise “gay uncle” had been tarred and feathered as a sexual predator.

Takei, wounded, issued a clear denial of the story:

Now, Brunton has spoken to the New York Observer’s Shane Snow in a lengthy interview where the former model now admits he doesn’t remember Takei groping him.

In fact, Brunton walks back several talking points about the night in question and his tone has softened regarding the allegations.

In the article, Brunton admits that, upon arriving in Los Angeles in his early 20s, he “became very wary of people—men—who may have wanted just to get into my pants.”

And yet, it was in 1981 that Brunton, having broken up with him boyfriend at the time, found himself out one evening for dinner and a play with the Star Trek actor which ended in Takei’s condo having cocktails.

Brunton’s says after two drinks he stood up and became dizzy. Takei led him to a bean bag chair where Brunton believes he passed out for a moment. When he came to, he says Takei was attempting to remove his pants.

Although Takei reasoned he was trying to make the younger man more comfortable, he got up and drove home.

Brunton would later tell The Oregonian that, “I know unequivocally he spiked my drink.”

But Snow spoke to two different medical toxicologists who ruled out the idea of a spiked drink.

“The most likely cause is not drug-related,” said Lewis Nelson, the director of medical toxicology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “It sounds like postural hypotension, exacerbated by alcohol.” Postural hypotension is a sudden decrease in blood pressure that can occur when a person stands up quickly—and can make one dizzy enough to pass out even without alcohol. Brunton had made it clear to me, twice, that dizziness hit him only when he stood up.

“The alcohol alone, if drunk quickly, could account for [his browning out], particularly if there was a bit of postural hypotension,” said date-rape expert Michael Scott-Ham of Principal Forensic Toxicology & Drugs, a consulting firm in London, who has testified in criminal cases for 35 years. “To recover so speedily doesn’t sound like the actions of a drug.”

According to experts, victims of the date-rape drug Rohypnol (“roofies”) describe the next day as the worst hangover of their lives, and have little to no memory of what happened while drugged.

Nelson added that there were no drugs available in 1981 that could have done what Brunton claims.

When Snow shared that info with Brunton, the former model admitted he felt better about the incident in that “it makes him a little less sinister.”

Snow also notes that Brunton’s story about being groped or fondled changed over time. In an interview with CNN, Brunton didn’t mention touching at all.

Snow directly asked Brunton about the issue:

I asked him to clarify the issue. “Did he touch your genitals?”

“You know…probably…” Brunton replied after some hesitation. “He was clearly on his way to…to…to going somewhere.”

We shared a pause.

“So…you don’t remember him touching your genitals?”

Brunton confessed that he did not remember any touching.

“There’s nothing to prosecute here,” former Senior Deputy District Attorney Ambrosio Rodriguez told Snow. He said that taking off someone’s pants is “making a move,” and making a move isn’t a crime if the instigator backs off when told “no.”

Brunton asserts he felt “betrayed” by his friend Takei for hitting on him and he still wants an apology from Takei.

“I just want him to apologize for taking advantage of our friendship,” Brunton said.

For Takei’s part, a personal friend told Snow, “This has been the worst thing to happen to George since the internment camps.”

In the end, Snow characterizes Brunton as “a sympathetic and well-intentioned man, would go on to walk back key details and let slip that, in his effort to be listened to, he’d fabricated some things.”

And while not dismissing the idea that Takei could have done something inappropriate almost 40 years ago, Snow’s take after surveying what he’d learned was, “We—both public and press—got the George Takei assault story wrong.”

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Bill Cosby Found Guilty On 3 Counts Of Aggravated Indecent Assault

From CBS News:

The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial has found the comedian guilty of sexually assaulting a former Temple University women’s basketball administrator at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Cosby was charged with three counts of felony indecent aggravated assault. He faces 10 years in prison on each count.

The jury at Cosby’s first trial deliberated for more than 52 hours over six days last year without reaching a verdict.

Jurors in this trial began deliberating Wednesday in Norristown, Pa. after prosecutors in closing arguments portrayed the 80-year-old former TV star as a serial predator who drugged and molested the woman, Andrea Constand, 14 years ago.

Five other women were called to the witness stand and testified the same thing had happened to them.

According to court records, the 3 assault charges were penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.

After the verdict, Cosby apparently began cursing at the prosecutor in the courtroom.

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News Round-Up: February 23, 2018

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Fitness model Quin Bruce looks ready for date night. #ThatFace #ThoseArms #Woof

 • Sixteen year-old Joshua Rush, who plays the Disney Channel’s first openly gay character on Andi Mack, says it was important to him to “do it right.”

• Members of the Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates on Thursday killed a proposed amendment to the House budget bill that would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to its nondiscrimination provision.

• In the aftermath of last week’s school massacre in Parkland, Florida, several major businesses are ending their partnerships with the National Rifle Association.

• According to Donald Trump, CNN and MSNBC are “failing.” But not according to the latest info from the Standard Media Index which shows that MSNBC grew its revenue from from January 2017 to last month by a 62% and CNN jumped 32% year-over-year. Fox News showed a polite 17% increase.

• Brendan Fraser says a Hollywood bigwig sexually assaulted him by fondling his butt (and more) and the incident affected his acting career.

• Out bronze medalist Adam Rippon says with the Olympics coming to a close, he would definitely take time to chat with Vice President Mike Pence about LGBT issues.

But – Rippon doesn’t think the two have much to chat on: “Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I was taught when I grew up, and I think that it’s important if you’re given the platform to speak up for those who don’t have a voice.”

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Two More Men Come Forward With Allegations Of Sexual Assault By Porn Actor Topher DiMaggio

Toper DiMaggion (image via Twitter)

Last week, gay adult film actor Tegan Zayne alleged that fellow actor Topher Dimaggio had pressured him into having sex the night before shooting a scene.

Zayne called the sex “rape.”

DiMaggio took a couple of days to respond, but his tweeted apology was deleted.

Now, two more have come forward – neither of them are in the porn industry.

Both seem to describe similar aggressive behavior by DiMaggio, and both echo similar language used  during the alleged assaults (“Dont worry about it, it’s fine…”).

The second person is a man who chose to remain anonymous using the name “Dan” in this situation. “Dan” shared his story with gay news site Hornet.

Excerpts from “Dan’s story:

Things went by, people left the party, and the next thing I remember is that I am alone with Topher in this place. I don’t know if I fell asleep and he woke me up, or how exactly I got into this position, but I was in the bedroom, I wasn’t wearing clothes, I was face-down, and he was trying to have sex with me.

Personally, I am not a bottom. I bottom, but not often, and I wouldn’t bottom for this guy — I didn’t know him that well. I didn’t have feelings for him. I had no intention of hooking up with this guy. I go out, I have fun, I meet people, I make decisions about who I want to hookup with, but this is not somebody I wanted to hookup with, so being in this situation was very jarring. All of a sudden to catch yourself — you’re drunk, you’re in a haze, you’re naked with a person you don’t want to be naked with.

And so I remember saying no, I don’t want to do this, and he said, No, don’t worry about it, and that’s kind of exactly what he said to Tegan. He was like, No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. He inserted himself inside of me and started to have sex with me.

I said, Stop, no, this hurts, and he said, Just don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. And he kept going and going and going and I just remember saying no, please stop, no, please. And I remember … I could see it and feel it in my head. I could remember where I was, where my body was, the pain, where he was, and then he finished inside me.

And was like … OK, well, what the fuck? I don’t know where I am, really. I’m stuck here. And then I woke up the next morning, not really knowing what was happening, sort of putting the pieces together. It wasn’t until I left and went home and I showered and I felt the pain and I was like, Holy shit, I need to go see a doctor.

So I left and went to the hospital and told them that I was sexually assaulted by a porn star and I was terrified and I needed help. I wanted to get on PEP. I knew I had a 48-hour window.

“Dan” was put a 30 day post-exposure protocol called PEP. He says he didn’t report the incident to the police because he feared retaliation from DiMaggio or his friends.

Said Dan, “My real fear was that I didn’t know what this guy was capable of. I didn’t know if he had guns or if he was on drugs.”

A third man, not aware of the second accuser, has also come forward with his own allegations against DiMaggio. Going by the pseudonym “Bryan,” the 33-year-old man who told his story to Str8UpGayPorn (site NSFW).

 “Bryan” says he met Topher at a bar with friends in Sacramento. Here’s the Q&A with Str8UpGayPorn:

Was Topher friendly?
When I first met him, he said, “You know who I am, right?” And I was like, “No.” I really didn’t know who he was. So, then he says, “I’m Topher DiMaggio, from Andrew Christian. I’m the entire brand of Andrew Christian. I made them who they are.” And I was like, “OK.” As the night went on, there was a group of us hanging out; Topher and I had mutual friends. I remember thinking he was pretty physical, not just with me but with everyone. It’s like this sort of playful banter, but still it was weird that he kept, like, punching my arm.

And so all of you were just hanging out together at the club where you met him?
Yes. And one of the things that stood out to me from Tegan’s story was when he mentioned that Topher was belittling and degrading towards him. He was exactly the same to me, even though we had just met. He had this same belittling attitude that Tegan described. I remember I gave him a compliment—it was something about his body or him being in great shape—and he said something back to me, to the effect of, “Yeah, I know. And you’re like half my size.”

After a while we all left the first club and went to another club. It was here that I knew there was something wrong with him. We were on the dance floor, and he just all of a sudden pulled out his dick and pushed my head down towards his crotch.

He did this in the club?
Yes, right in the middle of the dance floor. He pushed my head down, like to go suck it, and I moved back.

Had he been drinking a lot, or doing drugs?
He was drinking, yeah, but even if he was drunk, it still obviously wasn’t right. We’ve all been drunk before, but we don’t pull our dicks out on dance floors and push people’s heads down. And later, yeah, he was doing drugs. He was doing coke.

At this point, did you have any intention of hooking up with him?
No. Not at all. I was pretty drunk, and when I’m drunk, even the hottest guys look ugly to me. Hooking up is the furthest thing from my mind when I’m drunk, and I can’t think about having sex with anyone. I was especially not thinking about sex with him.

So in terms of how the night was progressing, it was you, him, and a few friends you both knew having a night out at the club.
Right, but then some of us went back to a friend’s house, after the club.

And Topher came with you to the house?
Yeah, he came, and I think there were two others with us.

What happened back at the house?
That’s where it happened, at the bathroom in the house. That’s where it got violent. I had to go pee, so I went to the bathroom, but he followed me into the bathroom. He said, “I have to take a leak as well,” and I was like, “Whatever.” I let him go first, and he peed. Then I go to pee, and he got right behind me. Next thing I know, he pushed me forward against the wall behind the toilet, and then he pushed my face against the wall, really hard. My lip busted open on the wall, and I started tasting the blood.

What did you say to him, or had he said anything to you after pushing you?
He just kept saying, “It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.” And then he pulled down my pants all the way. Remember, I was still trying to pee, but I couldn’t. And then I felt him behind me, and I realized what he was really trying to do. So, I said, “No, don’t. Stop.” I kept saying “No.” Then I said, “I don’t bottom.” I kept saying “no” again, and then again he was all, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry. It’s fine.”

Did you think about yelling for help? I take it the bathroom was small, and you were unable to get out?
There were two other people in the house, but I didn’t yell. I thought I could try to push him off, and the bathroom was actually spacious. If I had been able to push him off, I would’ve been able to escape. I remember my hand going on his waist and trying to push back, but it didn’t work. He was holding my chest with one arm, and then holding one of my arms with his other arm, so I couldn’t move. And then he started doing it, and I really couldn’t move. We were standing there over the toilet as he did it.

How long did this last?
It seems like it was a really long time, but I think it was only 10 or 15 minutes. When he finally stopped and he let me go, I asked him if he was finished, and he was like, “Yeah. I busted twice.” He pulled up his pants and walked out of the bathroom.

What did you do next?
I got dressed and went down to my car, and I cried and fell asleep in my car. I had to go to work in the morning, and I looked at my face in the mirror when I got home and I realized that he really fucked me up. That’s when I took the picture (of his busted lip).

You didn’t tell the people in the house though, you went down to you car.
Right. The first person I told was my mom. I told her I was raped, but that I didn’t know who it was. Saying it was a stranger I didn’t know was an easier way to tell her, I guess. I sent my mom the picture and she said she was so sorry.

Did you tell anyone else?
I told my roommates and friends, and I told my friend who told you. But telling people that I was raped hurt me more than the actual rape. At first, I was unsure where the line was drawn, and whether or not it was crossed to be called a rape. But then I was like, no, I said “no,” and he kept going, and he was violent, and by definition this was rape.

And did you ever consider going to the police?
My roommate brought up going to the police, but it was so hard to talk about. Like, I’m supposed to be a “man,” so how could I be raped? They told me I needed to file a police report, but I never did. I was dealing with my own inner battle for months. Like, did I insinuate something to Topher that might’ve caused this? Did I lead him on to deserve what I got? If I went to the police, I could imagine hearing Topher saying, “You wanted this. You asked for this.”

If Topher apologized to you today, would you accept his apology?
No. Because I don’t think he is sorry at all.

Were you worried about STDs after the incident? I didn’t ask earlier, but I presume he wasn’t wearing a condom?
No. No condom. I did go get checked for STDs, and I had everything come back negative.

How has hearing about him this week and re-telling your story made you feel? Are you doing OK?
I’m glad that this story has come out, because this is a real issue that other people need to hear about and learn from. I spent months worrying about my own reputation, or how I would look to others if people found out, and I’ve worried about being hurt all over again. But I think I’ve learned to think of myself as attractive again, and to love myself again. I did see a therapist after it happened, to make a little more sense of it. And the one thing she told me that helped was that I would need to learn to forgive him, because if I carried it around with me, I was gonna eat myself alive. So, I forgive him, but I won’t forget.

According to all sources I’ve checked, Topher has not addressed these new allegations.

I’m not sure what to make of all this except there are clear similarities in the stories. Others have now coming out saying they know DiMaggio and the described behavior doesn’t surprise them.

I’d be curious as to underwear designer Andrew Christian’s thoughts on Topher’s claim that he’s “the entire brand” and he “made them who they are.”

I have reached out to DiMaggio for a statement on the allegations, but no word back yet. I’ll post an update should I hear from him. It’s important to tell both sides of this especially when ultimately all we can say is this is a “he said/he said” situation.

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Kevin Spacey’s Agents & Publicist Jump Ship As More Sexual Assault Allegations Add Up

Kevin Spacey

More bad news for Kevin Spacey as the sexual harassment allegations continue to add up.

From JustJared:

Kevin Spacey has been dropped by both his talent agents at CAA and his publicist Staci Wolfe at Polaris amid allegations that he has sexually harassed and assaulted several men, some underage, over the years, according to Deadline.

The two-time Oscar-winning actor is in the midst of a very public scandal right now after actor Anthony Rapp came forward with an allegation of sexual assault when he was only 14.

In his response to the accusation, Spacey said he didn’t remember the incident and then came out as a gay man.

More people have come forward with allegations of sexual assault and harassment since then, including eight people who have worked on House of Cards.

Production on the hit Netflix series has been suspended indefinitely while the accusations are investigated.