Tag: Allegations

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Politics

Chris Cuomo Suggested Gov. Andrew Cuomo After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Chris Cuomo Advised Gov. Andrew Cuomo After Sexual Harassment Allegations

Prime-time CNN presenter Chris Cuomo gave public relations advice to his brother, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, after a series of sexual harassment allegations threatened the governor’s political career earlier this year, an unusual break from traditional Barriers between legislators and journalists.

CNN said Thursday that the talks were “inappropriate” and that Chris Cuomo would not have similar talks with the governor’s staff. However, the network said it would not take disciplinary action against the anchor, whose program was CNN’s top-rated show in the first quarter of the year.

The episode has again raised questions about Chris Cuomo’s ability to host a flagship cable news show while his brother is a key figure in several major political stories. In addition to allegations of harassment from several women who worked on his staff, Governor Cuomo has been criticized for covering up the number of coronavirus deaths in New York state nursing homes. Last year, before the scandals broke news, Governor Cuomo commanded a national audience with his daily news of the pandemic.

Governor Cuomo’s office said Thursday that Chris Cuomo had joined several strategy calls with the governor and some of his top advisors to confirm an earlier Washington Post report. “There were some phone calls with friends and advisers who gave advice to the governor,” said Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Governor Cuomo.

Chris Cuomo apologized to viewers and colleagues at the start of the show on Thursday for the calls to the governor’s staff, saying, “It won’t happen again. It was a mistake. “But he also defended himself, saying that he” naturally “gave advice to his brother and that he was” family first, job second “.

“I know where the line is,” he said of the balance between journalist and politician as a brother. “I can respect it and still be there for my family, what I have to.”

Earlier this year, CNN blocked Chris Cuomo from reporting on allegations of harassment against his brother, who has denied any wrongdoing.

“Chris was not involved in CNN’s full coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo – either in the air or behind the scenes,” CNN said in a statement. “Partly because, as he said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because it often serves as a sounding board for his brother. However, it was inappropriateness to have conversations that included governor staff, which Chris acknowledges. “

“Cuomo Prime Time”, which airs on the east coast at 9 p.m., is a news and commentary hour with the colorful monologues of its namesake and tournament interviews with guests. In cable news, the code of ethics is often looser for commentators than for reporters. However, offering strategic advice to a high profile politician is frowned upon. MSNBC, for example, stopped paying presidential historian Jon Meacham last year after he helped write speeches for Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was then a presidential candidate.

Several Fox News opinion leaders have actively advised President Trump during his tenure. Sean Hannity even performed with Mr. Trump at a boisterous campaign event. But the CNN leadership often criticized Fox News for those blurry lines. Jeff Zucker, the CNN president, described Rupert Murdoch’s Fox as “state television”.

After joining CNN in 2013, Chris Cuomo largely refrained from interviewing his brother on television. (An early exception resulted in some setbacks.) That changed last year after Governor Cuomo’s coronavirus updates became a national phenomenon. The brothers conducted extensive prime-time interviews about the emotional pressures of the pandemic. Viewers were thrilled, especially after Chris Cuomo tested positive for the coronavirus and started speaking to his brother from isolation in a basement.

CNN leaned into the moment. “You get trust through authenticity, relativity and vulnerability,” Zucker told the New York Times last year. “This is what the Cuomo brothers are giving us right now.”

The duo’s on-air appeal eased after Governor Cuomo faced criticism of New York State’s response to the coronavirus. That year, it was also reported that Chris Cuomo was among the governor’s friends and family who were given special access to government-run coronavirus testing facilities, including a police escort for samples so they could be processed quickly.

At the time, a CNN spokesperson defended the host, arguing that Mr. Cuomo had the virus and “went to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human would do”.

Luis Ferré-Sadurní contributed to the coverage.

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World News

BAFTA Suspends Award for Actor Noel Clarke Amid Harassment Allegations

BAFTA Suspends Award for Actor Noel Clarke Amid Harassment Allegations

LONDON – The organization that awards the UK equivalent of the Oscars has suspended a celebrity actor and director weeks after receiving one of its main awards after 20 women accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment and bullying.

Producers, actresses and production assistants said actor Noel Clarke secretly filmed auditions where they were naked, fondled or forcibly kissed them, and sent unsolicited intimate pictures. The testimonies were detailed in an extensive synopsis that The Guardian published on Thursday evening.

The 45-year-old Clarke grew up in London and established himself in the 2000s as an actor on the television series “Doctor Who”. In Great Britain he is known as a filmmaker and performer for his trilogy “The Hood” about the life of teenagers in West London and for the TV police dramas “Bulletproof” and “Viewpoint”. His production company, Unstoppable Film & Television, has made more than 10 films and television shows.

According to The Guardian, Mr. Clarke denied all allegations made by his lawyers, with the exception of one episode in which he was accused of making inappropriate comments on a woman. He said he later apologized on the case.

A spokesman for artist management agency 42 M&P said it stopped representing Mr Clarke in April. Other efforts to contact Mr. Clarke and his agents were not immediately successful.

Sexual harassment allegations in the film industry have surfaced in recent years following revelations in the New York Times about Harvey Weinstein that touched the #MeToo movement. Mr Clarke is one of the first prominent actors to face such allegations in the UK.

In a statement to The Guardian, Mr. Clarke said: “In a 20 year career I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and have never filed a complaint against me.”

“If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespectful, I sincerely apologize,” said Mr. Clarke, denying any sexual misconduct or misconduct and dismissing the allegations as false.

The extent of the possible ramifications for Mr Clarke became clear on Friday when ITV television took the unusual step of saying in a statement that it would not air the finale of “Viewpoint,” a drama starring the actor, on its main channel Friday night because of the allegations against him.

Mr Clarke was recently awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, commonly known as BAFTA, the Award for Great Britain’s Outstanding Contribution to Cinema at its annual ceremony earlier this month, despite being made aware of the allegations almost two weeks ago the ceremony.

BAFTA said in a statement Friday that it had received emails accusing him of sexual misconduct in the days following the announcement that Mr Clarke would receive the award.

The allegations, the organization said, were either anonymous accounts or second- or third-hand accounts through intermediaries, adding that they would have reacted differently if the statements had come directly from the prosecutors.

“Names, times, dates, productions or any other details were never given,” BAFTA said. “If the victims had been registered with The Guardian, the award would have been suspended immediately.”

BAFTA, which previously honored Mr. Clarke with the Rising Star Award in 2009, said in an earlier statement released shortly after the article was published that it would cancel his award and membership in the Academy “immediately and until further notice “suspended.

The Guardian report cited nearly two dozen women in the film industry who said they had suffered a range of ill-treatment, including unwanted physical contact, groping and forced kissing, and unwanted sexual behavior on the set, including eight on the nudes.

Norwegian film producer Synne Seltveit said Mr Clarke slapped her buttocks in 2015 and later sent an unwanted explicit sexual image. Actress Gina Powel said Mr Clarke exposed her in a car and later fondled her in an elevator in 2015 as well. Anna Avramenko, an assistant The film director said Mr Clarke kissed her violently on the set in 2008 and tried several times after the incident.

Helen Atherton, art director on “Brotherhood,” which is part of “The Hood” trilogy, said Mr. Clarke violated the norms for ethical filming of sex and nude scenes, including hiring a non-professional actress to do one Play scene in which intimate parts of their anatomy were visible.

In recent years, as television and film productions grapple with the effects of the #MeToo movement, “intimacy coordinators” have become more common on the set. Your job is to make sure that sex scenes do not endanger or exploit the performers. In recent British and Irish shows like “It’s a Sin” and “Normal People”, intimacy coordinators have been added to their crew.

On screen, the plots of some recent British hits like “Sex Education” and “I May Destroy You” have raised questions of sexual consent.

British actress and writer Michaela Coel, who created “I May Destroy You,” in which she plays a young Londoner investigating her own rape, said in a statement she supported the women who accused Mr. Clarke.

“Talking about these incidents takes a lot of effort because some people call them ‘gray areas’. However, they are far from gray, ”said Ms. Coel.

“These behaviors are unprofessional, violent, and can irreparably destroy a person’s perception of themselves, their place in the world, and their career.”

In his speech at the BAFTA Awards earlier this month, Black Mr Clarke dedicated his award to “the underrepresented person who sits at home believing they can do more.”

“This is especially for my young black boys and girls out there who never believed this could happen to them,” said Mr. Clarke.

He added, “Hopefully people will see that I’ve been trying to make changes in the industry.”

The British Academy has been repeatedly criticized for the lack of diversity in its nominee list and announced a number of changes to its nomination and award process over the past year.

For this year’s awards, BAFTA’s 6,700 voting members had to undergo unconscious bias training and watch each nominated film before they could cast their ballots for each category – an attempt to deter voters from focusing on the most hyped films.

In Friday’s statement, BAFTA said it had asked individuals to show their accounts and identify themselves.

“We very much regret that women have felt unable to give us the kind of firsthand testimony that has now appeared in The Guardian,” it said. “Had we received this, we would never have presented the award to Noel Clarke.”

Categories
Entertainment

Staatsballett Berlin and Dancer Attain Settlement Over Bias Allegations

Staatsballett Berlin and Dancer Reach Settlement Over Bias Allegations

“It’s a wake-up call”: In a press release issued on Thursday by the Berlin State Ballet, these bold words announced that an agreement for stage employees was reached with a member of the Black Corps de Ballet before the German labor court Year has filed complaints about racism against the company.

The dancer Chloé Lopes Gomes spoke out after her annual contract was not renewed.

Lopes Gomes, the only black female member of the company, will remain with the State Ballet until the end of the 2021/22 season and will receive financial compensation of 16,000 euros as part of the agreement reached during the arbitration.

In a December interview with the New York Times, Ms. Lopes Gomes said she had witnessed a number of racially insensitive incidents but was too afraid of losing her job to speak up. After being told in September that her contract would not be renewed, she made her allegations public. Incidents included being forced to lighten their skin in corps de ballet roles and being told during rehearsals that any mistakes she made were more noticeable because she was black.

In the statement, the interim artistic director of the State Ballet, Christiane Theobald, said that she regretted the experience of Ms. Lopes Gomes, which the company had “currently processed in detail”. She added, “A great opportunity to change lies in the current situation.”

In a telephone interview, Ms. Lopes Gomes said she was happy to have reached an agreement. “It’s a small win for me, but a big one for ballet, especially in Germany, because it’s pretty rare for a company like this to acknowledge that there has been abuse,” she said. “I can’t say I’m thrilled to stay at the State Ballet, but I’m happy to have work and dance.”

The press release added that an ombudsman’s office had been set up so that all members of the State Ballet could report on experiences of discriminatory behavior.

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Business

Sexual Assault Allegations In opposition to Blake Bailey Halt Delivery of His Philip Roth Ebook

Sexual Assault Allegations Against Blake Bailey Halt Shipping of His Philip Roth Book

“I can assure you that I have never had consensual sex with anyone and when it comes to a point I will vigorously defend my reputation and livelihood,” he wrote in the email checked by The Times. “In the meantime, I appeal to your decency: I have a wife and a young daughter who love me and are dependent on me, and such a rumor, even if it is not true, would destroy them.”

“We took this claim very seriously. We were aware that the allegation had also been forwarded to two people at Mr. Bailey’s former employer and a reporter at the New York Times, a news organization well equipped to investigate them, ”said a Norton spokeswoman . “We took steps, including questioning Mr. Bailey about the allegations, which he categorically denied, and we were aware of the sender’s request for a guarantee of anonymity.”

Former students remember him as a charismatic role model who treated them as intellectual peers. But he also created an atmosphere of intimacy that could cross the line, such as encouraging students to write about romantic relationships in magazines they brought him for comment. “There was an environment full of dirty jokes and permissiveness,” said Elizabeth Gross, a former student who now teaches at Tulane University. Some students said his utterances and behavior were attempts to “groom” them for sexual encounters years later.

Eve Peyton, 40, a former student who now works in public relations at a New Orleans high school, said Mr Bailey raped her when she was a graduate student. When she was his student, he treated her as “one of his special girls,” she said, attention that felt flattering and empowering at the time.

She was a PhD student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in June 2003 and engaged to be married. She and Mr. Bailey were both visiting New Orleans at the same time and having a drink. After that, he invited her back to the place where he lived, where he kissed her, initiated oral sex, and when she squirmed he put her to the bed and forcibly had sex with her, she said. He finally stopped when she told him she wasn’t using birth control, she remembered.

After driving her to her father’s house where she lived, Mr. Bailey said he had “wanted her” since the day they met when she was 12, Ms. Peyton said.

She told two friends about the attack shortly after it happened but didn’t go to the police, partly because she was overwhelmed and wanted to get on with her life, she said. She later saw a therapist experienced in counseling on sexual assault.

Categories
Politics

Lincoln Venture backers take into account chopping off donations in wake of misconduct allegations

Lincoln Project backers consider cutting off donations in wake of misconduct allegations

John Weaver is shown on a campaign bus in Bow, NH, in this January 20, 2016 file photo. The Lincoln Project launched in November 2019 as a super PAC that allowed its executives to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.

Charles Krupa | AP

The Lincoln Project, a group of conservative activists that made a splash with viral ads targeting former President Trump, is at risk of losing financial support after one of its founders is accused of sexual misconduct.

Several wealthy donors are considering cutting off their support for the organization, according to people close to these financiers. They pay particular attention to the results of an outside investigation into whether other leaders were aware of the alleged harassment of several men by co-founder John Weaver, these people added.

Some of those close to the donors declined to be named because they were concerned about retaliation from the leaders of the Lincoln Project and their allies.

Despite numerous reports to the contrary, the Lincoln Project – its original members include Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign leader Steve Schmidt, the author and former advisor to the George HW Bush campaign, Rick Wilson, and conservative attorney George Conway – denied being aware of any misconduct allegations against Weaver until recently. The group condemned Weaver’s conduct on January 31st.

Weaver told the New York Times in January that he was a withdrawn gay man and that he was “really sorry for these men and everyone and for abandoning so many people.”

The Lincoln Project said Thursday that it is “retaining a top notch outside professional to review Mr. Weaver’s tenure with the organization and establish both accountability and best practices for the Lincoln Project”.

The FBI is also investigating the allegations against Weaver, according to independent journalist Yashar Ali, who cited sources who claimed they were being contacted by agents.

The Lincoln Project did not respond to subsequent CNBC requests for comment.

The group will continue to need financial assistance as it continues its stated mission of targeting pro-Trump politicians and the former president. The group has reportedly tried to start a media company. There is already a live online show called “LPTV”. A United Talent Agency representative, who reportedly held talks to increase the group’s media presence, did not respond to a request for comment.

The PAC raised over $ 87 million, much of it from several Democratic megadonors. Those in charge of the organization were so confident that some organizers told CNBC in May they wanted to reach out to billionaire and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg for a donation. Records show that Bloomberg didn’t help.

Much of the Lincoln Project’s spending went towards paying vendors owned by its executives. The group was founded in December 2019.

Donor Jen Pritzker, a member of the wealthy and influential Pritzker family, suggested that given the allegations against Weaver, she could stop giving money to the group. Pritzker contributed to the joint fundraising committee of President Joe Biden and other democratic groups.

“I believed in the Lincoln Project’s mission and supported its efforts to prevent Donald Trump from being re-elected,” Pritzker told CNBC in a statement. “As a donor, I trusted that my gift would be used to further support the organization’s goals. Sexual misconduct cannot be tolerated by any organization. Anyone can be a victim, and these allegations should be handled in accordance with human rights law.”

A spokeswoman for Pritzkers Tawani Enterprises stated that she had not yet made a decision as to whether she would make a contribution in the future.

Pritzker donated $ 100,000 to the Lincoln Project in October, Federal Election Commission records show. Another family member, John Pritzker, also gave the group $ 100,000. He did not return a request for comment.

When asked by CNBC whether Jeffrey Katzenberg would stop giving the Lincoln Project, an advisor to the Hollywood power player didn’t rule it out. “Not our focus,” said the consultant in an email. Katzenberg gave the PAC $ 100,000 in August. Katzenbeg was also a major Biden bundler.

Meanwhile, CNBC has learned that two previous Lincoln project vendors will no longer work with the group.

Aaron, Thomas & Associates, who describes himself as a specialist in political direct mail, received over $ 90,000 from the group in September, records show. The company’s work with the group stopped before the Weaver allegations surfaced, but the company has decided not to take any more business from the Lincoln project.

“Absolutely not,” replied founder Fred Thomas when asked by CNBC if the Lincoln project would work again. “When we cited this work, we weren’t even aware of what it was or who it was for. We broke it up with someone else anyway,” he added, noting that his company “doesn’t want negative results from Mail. “

Anedot, a campaign donation processor used in the Lincoln Project’s final election cycle, is closing its account with the group, according to a company official who refused to be named.

“Anedot was recently made aware of certain incidents that resulted in our account team notifying the account owner that the account will be closed,” the representative said.

The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics says Anedot received fees of over $ 3 million in the 2020 cycle. Anedot’s representative said he did not give any reasons for closing accounts.

In building its media business through the Lincoln Project, CNBC turned to Zeldavision, a live streaming production company that received over $ 1 million from the group. The company promotes a partnership with the PAC. According to the Zeldavision website, it also appears to be helping to produce the Lincoln Project’s live content.

The company did not answer whether it would stand by the PAC in the future.

Tara Setmayer, who distinguishes herself as a senior advisor on her Twitter page and has hosted an LPTV show, said she was “dismayed and disappointed” by the recent event surrounding the Lincoln project.

“It cannot be tolerated. More to say,” added Setmayer.

Categories
Entertainment

Filmmakers Take a look at Woody Allen Abuse Allegations in 4-Half Sequence

Filmmakers Look at Woody Allen Abuse Allegations in Four-Part Series

Documentary filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering have shed light on sexual abuse allegations in institutions such as the military for the past decade in The Invisible War (2012). Colleges, in “The Hunting Ground” (2015); and the music industry in “On the Record” (2020). Now they target Dylan Farrow’s decades of sexual abuse allegations against her adoptive father Woody Allen.

“Allen v. Farrow” is a four-part documentary that will be released later this month. It introduces viewers to Farrow’s public experience of accusing a famous and powerful man of abuse, but also includes details of the case that were not shared with the public.

At first, Farrow’s story didn’t fit in with the usual broad-based research by Dick and Ziering, but on closer inspection, the filmmakers found they had an opportunity to discuss family child abuse and incest, a topic that survivors consistently urged the two to address .

“I was haunted by these stories,” said Ziering. “That is the third track. Nobody talks about it. “

Everyone is talking about Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, however. The former Hollywood power couple were together for 12 years. They never married and had separate apartments, made 13 films together, adopted and had two children (Dylan and Moses) another (Satchel who changed his name to Ronan after his parents separated). They were the talk of the town until everything collapsed in 1992. Over the course of eight months, Farrow discovered nude photos of college-age daughter Soon-Yi Previn in Allen’s apartment. That summer, 7-year-old Dylan said Allen sexually assaulted her. These allegations resulted in an ugly custody battle and a permanently torn family apart. Allen has consistently denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime following investigations in Connecticut and New York.

With the media fully focused on the scandal for so many years, Dick said he believed he knew the story and was initially reluctant to delve further. “It’s been covered so extensively and a lot of our work goes into new cases,” he said. “But when we got involved, we found that there was a lot more. We turned around finding that the whole story had never come out. “

The filmmakers, along with Amy Herdy, the producer who led the investigation, spent three years tracking down court documents and police reports, and conducting extensive interviews with many witnesses who had never spoken to the public before.

The series begins February 21 on HBO and includes a home video of Mia Farrow growing up in Connecticut, as well as audio recordings she secretly taped from some conversations with everyone. And for the first time, we see 7-year-old Dylan’s videotape, taped immediately after Farrow’s allegations. The ribbon has become a hot button over the past two decades. One side is evidence of her truthfulness and the other side is evidence that Farrow coached her daughter in her responses. The filmmakers also raise questions about an important report from the Yale Child Sexual Abuse Clinic at Yale-New Haven Hospital that found Dylan incredible after nine interviews within seven months.

Neither Allen, Soon-Yi Previn nor Moses Farrow participated in the documentary. (The majority of Farrow’s other living children did so.) They declined to comment on the series that they had not yet seen.

I asked Dick and Ziering why they decided to get involved. You will find edited excerpts from our conversation below.

For so long this story has been told the way he said – it told a family drama in which many people declared, “We will never know the truth.”

Amy Ziering If you dig closer you see he said it, he said, he said, he said, he said, he said, she said [whispered]he said, he said, he said, he said. But we didn’t know. Nobody knew. If you get this echo chamber from a certain perspective and narrative, you will not recognize the source. That was interesting when we unpacked it. And when we started listening to the “She Said” part and checking out the “He Said” part, it got extremely interesting.

Since the beginning of the #MeToo movement, Allen has been ostracized in a number of ways: Amazon has canceled its film contract for several pictures. His latest film has not yet found US distribution. The first editor of his memoirs resigned. Some actors have said that they will no longer work with him in the future. Why publish this documentary now?

ZIERING Our goal is never the perpetrator. It is more about us all understanding these crimes, how we all participate in these crimes, and I mean all of us, both funny and unknowing. It’s also about how to talk about something that happens all the time in America that no one is comfortable with. This is not the full exploration of it. It’s a way of getting people to think about it.

THICK As with “On the Record,” where people need to know what happens when a person decides to come forward and immediately afterwards, this is built into the experience of the people involved. So it’s not just about someone being accused.

Whether by the media or by everyone himself, Farrow has long been portrayed as unstable? Was that your perception of her and has that changed?

THICK I just want to say that the suspicion and criticism that mothers have in this society in general are just evidence of misogyny. People like to blame mothers for anything. From the beginning I was very suspicious of this narrative because it is a misogynist narrative – the idea of ​​the hysterical woman, the crazy woman. This is what not only happens with incest, which is done quite often, but also with sexual assault. Hearing that made me very, very suspicious.

ZIERING There are amazing wills [to Farrow] and people will see the home videos Mia has made of her children all her life. We have received a lot of love and praise from the people we interviewed about their qualities as mothers.

Wasn’t Dylan ready to give you the tape of her at the age of 7, the tape that has been at the center of this controversy for so long?

ZIERING It took Dylan a long time to feel comfortable and secure in sharing this video. And once she shared it, there were parameters about whether she’d be okay with us actually using it. It was incremental. We are not concerned with contributing to the pain of others.

At the end of the documentary, Mia says she’s still scared of Woody and is actually worried about what he’s going to do when he sees this series. Then why did she choose to participate? What was your goal?

ZIERING She didn’t want to be part of it. She did this for her daughter Dylan. In fact, in the interview you see her in, she’s in my shirt. I literally had to borrow someone else’s shirt and give her my shirt because when she showed up she didn’t want to do the interview, she was so unhappy. What did she wear? I don’t even remember.

She said, “My daughter came up to me and said it was important to me and you must do this for me.” And she said, “I stand by my children. I will take the incoming fire. I don’t know you, Amy. I don’t know Kirby. I know your work. I was angry because I didn’t do anything. ”

The series examines the Yale-New Haven clinic in depth. From the frequency with which the clinicians interviewed Dylan to the fact that any timely interview notes from those sessions were destroyed when the final report was published. In your previous sexual abuse research, have you ever seen a situation where such notes were destroyed?

THICK I had not. It’s really shocking that notes get destroyed, but that’s one of the reasons the whole story never came out. If everything had been transparent, we wouldn’t have made this series.

How actively did you try to reach out to Soon-Yi, Moses, and Woody? Have you ever got an answer from any of them?

THICK We have definitely achieved. We didn’t expect them to speak. If we were to make a movie about Woody Allen’s career, he probably wouldn’t be talking to us. It didn’t surprise us.

Were there any threats of lawsuits or anything else from the Allen camp when you put this together?

THICK No. We are always careful when verifying facts. We went to great lengths to ensure accuracy.

ZIERING As always. We never had to withdraw a fact. Legally, it would have been easier to adapt a book or write a story about someone who is already convicted. This way you won’t be in front of a moving train. But unfortunately we actually run in front of moving trains. The only thing that can save us is truth and extreme caution. We are not dead yet.