Macaulay Culkin Wants to Set the Record Straight About His Relationship With Michael Jackson
If you saw HBO’s Leaving Neverland, the explosive documentary exploring allegations that Michael Jackson sexually abused children, you may have been surprised when Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin didn’t make an appearance. As a child, Culkin starred in the music video for Jackson’s “Black and White,” after which he and Jackson became lifelong friends. Throughout the years, as allegations of Jackson’s behavior have exploded into the mainstream, Culkin has continuously denied that he ever had any sexual contact with Jackson.
In Esquire’s March 2020 cover story, Culkin discusses at length his friendship with Jackson, going into detail about their relationship and what did and did not happen.
“Look,” Culkin said. “I’m gonna begin with the line—it’s not a line, it’s the truth: He never did anything to me. I never saw him do anything. And especially at this flash point in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back. The guy has passed on. If anything—I’m not gonna say it would be stylish or anything like that, but right now is a good time to speak up. And if I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it. But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything.”
Culkin spoke about the special bond he and Jackson shared by virtue of their unique childhoods—or lack thereof. Both raised by fathers pushing them toward fame at a young age, Culkin and Jackson were kindred spirits, despite their 22-year age difference. The last time they encountered one another was in a men’s room at the Santa Barbara County Superior Courthouse in 2005, where Culkin testified as a character witness in People v. Michael Jackson, wherein Jackson was charged with intoxicating and molesting a 13-year-old boy who had cancer. Jackson was later acquitted.
“We better not talk,” Jackson said, according to Culkin. “I don’t want to influence your testimony.”
The two embraced before returning to court. It was the last time Culkin would see Jackson before he passed away in 2009.
Though Jackson has been dead for over a decade, Leaving Neverland has introduced new aftershocks into Culkin’s life. He spoke about a memorable celebrity encounter that occurred not long after the documentary’s release.
“Here’s a good Michael Jackson story that doesn’t involve Michael Jackson at all,” Culkin said. “I ran into James Franco on a plane. I’d bumped into him two or three times over the years. I give him a little nod as we’re putting our bags overhead. Hey, how you doing? Good, how ya doing? And it was right after the Leaving Neverland documentary came out, and he goes, ‘So, that documentary!’ And that was all he said. I was like, ‘Uh-huh.’ Silence. So then he goes, ‘So what do you think?’ And I turned to him and I go, ‘Do you wanna talk about your dead friend?’ And he sheepishly went, ‘No, I don’t.’ So I said, ‘Cool, man, it was nice to see you.’ ”
Culkin is godfather to Jackson’s daughter Paris, to whom he remains close. He has shared with her his habit of stealing spoons from restaurants, bars, and cafes as a bit of “harmless” fun. The two give one another spoons as gifts, and they have matching spoon tattoos on their forearms.
When Paris entered public life, Culkin had just one piece of advice, given by virtue of the spoons: “Don’t forget to be silly, don’t forget to take something away from this whole experience, and don’t forget to stick something up your sleeve.”
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/macaulay-culkin-wants-set-record-130100042.html
Photo Credit: Robbie Fimmano/currently.att.yahoo.com
Universal will release controversial ‘Hunt’ film in March
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Universal Pictures said Tuesday that it will release the social satire “The Hunt,” a film it canceled in the wake of criticism about its premise of “elites” hunting people for sport in red states.
A trailer announcing the film’s March 13 release date presents the “elites” hunting regular people as a conspiracy theory. Star Hilary Swank says at one point that “it wasn’t real” amid images of shootings, explosions and other violence.
The trailer includes the line, “The most talked about movie of the year is one nobody’s seen yet.”
In August, Universal Pictures canceled a September release for “The Hunt” after criticism, including from President Donald Trump. The president, without mentioning the film by name, said it was intended “to inflame and cause chaos.”
The cancellation came after the studio had already paused the ad campaign for the R-rated film in the wake of mass shootings in Texas, Ohio and California.
The film features 12 strangers who awake in a clearing who don’t yet know they’ve been chosen for The Hunt, but one of them manages to turn the table on the pursuers, a synopsis released Tuesday stated.
“The Hunt,” produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, stars Oscar winner Swank and Betty Gilpin, and is directed by Craig Zobel. It was written by Damon Lindelof and his “Watchmen” collaborator Nick Cuse.
News of the film’s release was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Article via APNews
BREAKING: Grand Jury Indicts Jussie Smollett
Sources close to the Jussie Smollett team and the investigation confirm that the indictment has been handed down.
France’s pedophile author is hiding out in Italy (and feeling sorry for himself)
Last month Ed wrote about Gabriel Matzneff, a celebrated French author who spent decades writing about sex with underage girls and boys. For most of his life Matzneff was celebrated for this transgressive literature, but that changed recently when one of his former victims, Vanessa Springora, wrote a book of her own titled “Le Consentement” or Consent. In the wake of this sudden turn in his public fortunes, Matzneff has fled France. The New York Times found him hiding out in Italy:
Mr. Matzneff disappeared in late December, just before the publication of Ms. Springora’s memoir. As the scandal exploded in Paris, I pored through his diaries and books. When a brief interview he gave to a French television network hinted at his whereabouts, I went to the Italian Riviera and found Mr. Matzneff — a creature of habit, his diaries made clear — in his favorite cafe.
Initially startled, defensive and angry, the writer admitted that he was “very, very lonely” and began to open up.
Asking that his exact location not be revealed, Mr. Matzneff spoke for three and a half hours.
He expressed bewilderment at the sudden cultural shift in France and his precipitous downfall. He showed no remorse for his past actions and did not renounce any of his writings.
But the focus of the Times’ story isn’t just Matzneff’s current whereabouts, it’s how he managed to escape scrutiny for so long. The answer involves the unique culture in France which celebrates authors (and artists) above all others. In this culture, Matzneff was untouchable for many decades because he had powerful friends including President Francois Mitterrand who was a fan of his first book.
When Matzneff was briefly investigated by police in the 1980s (he was then living with 14-year-old Ms. Springora) he showed the police an essay President Mitterrand had written praising his work and they decided not to pursue the investigation.
But it wasn’t just a few powerful people that defended him. Matzneff was defended by the elite culture of intelligentsia in France. I found this vignette particularly telling:
The most public criticism came in 1990, on the literary television show “Apostrophes,” as the host and guests discussed Mr. Matzneff’s latest diary, “Mes Amours Décomposés,” (“My Decomposed Loves.”) In it, he boasted about having sex with countless minors, including 11- and 12-year-old Filipino boys he describes as “a rare spice.”
The single foreigner present, Denise Bombardier, a journalist from Quebec, denounced his pedophilia.
The reaction from France’s intelligentsia was swift.
Josyane Savigneau, who was editor of a literary supplement of the French newspaper Le Monde from 1991 to 2005, publicly chided Ms. Bombardier and defended Mr. Matzneff’s work.
In a recent interview, Ms. Savigneau recalled being revolted by some of Mr. Matzneff’s writings, but said his books were superior to others that landed on her desk.
“I saw him as a man who liked young women,” she said. “In France, he was never seen with boys.”
This would have happened just a few years before Bill Clinton aka Slick Willie became the nominee for the Democratic Party. And a few years later, Clinton would be impeached and the story of his sexual involvement with an intern in the Oval Office would become international news. I remember one of the arguments used to defend Clinton at the time was that the rest of the world was mocking America’s puritanism. In a 2017 piece for Vox, Matt Yglesias wrote of his own view of Clinton’s impeachment at the time which leaned heavily on France’s view of such relationships.
Unfortunately for me, I’m a little too old to get away with claiming to have had no opinion on this at the time. My version of a sophisticated high schooler’s take on the matter was that the American media should get over its bourgeois morality hang-ups and be more like the French, where François Mitterrand’s wife and his longtime mistress grieved together at his funeral.
As a married 30-something father, I’ve come around to a less “worldly” view of infidelity. As a co-founder of Vox, I’d never in a million years want us to be the kind of place where men in senior roles can get away with the kind of misconduct that we’ve seen is all too common in our industry and in so many others.
There’s a connection here that hasn’t been made (at least not that I’ve seen). The culture that long defended Matzneff’s books and behavior was also used to defend Clinton’s behavior. Those criticizing Clinton at the time were shamed in the same way Denise Bombardier was shamed for criticizing Matzneff. Looking back from the era of #MeToo, with Harvey Weinsten on trial and Jeffrey Epstein dead, you wonder how anyone ever got away with it.
Article via HotAir
California may stop school fitness tests over fears they lead to bullying and body-shaming
(CNN) — Push-ups, curl-ups and the dreaded one-mile run are a staple of childhood in US schools. But California may put a stop to the tests.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed suspending the physical fitness tests at the state’s schools over concerns that they promote bullying and body discrimination.
Under current state requirements, students in grades five, seven and nine are required to take a physical fitness test, which includes the one-mile run, curl-ups, push-ups and a measure of body mass index.
While the administration argues the physical assessments can cause students of different body shapes to be body-shamed or bullied, the BMI screening is particularly sensitive because it asks students to select whether they are female or male.
A number of school districts have complained to the state that this is discriminatory against students who identify as non-binary, according to H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the Finance Department.
If the proposal, which was included in Newsom’s budget bill for next year, passes, physical fitness testing would be suspended for three years.
“Dispelling myths, breaking down stereotypes, and improving school climate is one way California is working to keep all students safe and healthy, consistent with the Governor’s commitment to a California that respects all students,” Palmer said in an email.
During the proposed three-year suspension, the Department of Education would consult with experts on fitness, physical education, gender identity and students with disabilities to determine whether the test needs to be modified or a new assessment should be developed.
The proposal comes as California’s annual reports of the fitness test since the 2014-2015 school year show a decline in the percentage of students scoring healthy. The share of students meeting the healthy fitness zone for all six fitness standards (aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extension strength and upper body strength) decreased by 3.3 percentage points for fifth graders, 4.3 points for seventh graders and 4.6 points for ninth graders.
But Palmer says Newsom’s proposal will not affect students’ physical fitness.
“The pause in administering tests won’t affect the amount or level of (physical education) that kids receive from their school,” Palmer said, adding that PE classes would still be a graduation requirement.
Gender identity advocates praise the move
Advocates for gender identity are praising Newsom’s proposal as a step forward.
“There is an objective in measuring a student’s fitness. The problem is when it’s defined by gender,” Joel Baum, senior director for professional development at Gender Spectrum, told CNN.
The current fitness test sets different criteria for boys and girls. For example, a 12-year-old girl is considered healthy if she can do more than four modified pull-ups. But a boy of the same age is considered healthy if he can do more than seven pull-ups, according to FITNESSGRAM.
This difference in standards can put transgender and non-binary students in a tough spot, possibly even in danger, Baum said.Build a dynamic banking and financial enterprise.Transform operations, operating models and enterprise architecture to become more agile and efficient, allowing you get to market faster.Ad By IBMSee More
“If I’m a transgender boy and nobody knows, and then I don’t meet the standards of a boy physically, I’m put in a difficult situation. Either I don’t meet the standards and take the according grade or I compromise my own privacy and tell my teacher I was actually born as a girl,” Baum said, adding that this can lead to bullying of the transgender student.
When a student who identifies as non-binary is pushed to select male or female on the BMI assessment, Baum says, that forces them to claim an identity that’s not their own.
“It’s simply important that kids feel seen by the school that they go to,” Baum said. “By recognizing non-binary people and using the right pronouns, that’s a huge acknowledgment of someone’s reality and experience, and it’s affirming.”
BMI isn’t even an accurate measure of fitness, some say
BMI is commonly used in the US to measure obesity. You divide your weight (in pounds) by your height (in inches) squared, and multiply that number by 703. If the resulting number is 30 or higher, a person is considered obese. But in recent years, BMI has come under scrutiny because it doesn’t distinguish between fat and muscle, which can be an issue for athletic people.
Even former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would be considered obese when he won the top bodybuilding title of Mr. Olympia in 1974, Schwarzenegger’s spokesman told the Associated Press.
“Whether the state uses fitness tests or not, Governor Schwarzenegger believes that the most important thing is that our students have access to daily physical education classes to promote a healthy and fit lifestyle,” Schwarzenegger’s the spokesman said.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Texas teen growing out hair for sick sister withdraws from school when told to get haircut
When 16-year-old Newt Johnson found out his little sister was sick, he was ready to do anything for her.
That included growing out his hair until it was long enough to make a wig, in case she needed it. But because of his school’s policies, that also meant withdrawing from his high school.
His sister and best friend, Maggie Johnson, was recently diagnosed with Wegener’s disease. The rare auto immune disease affects her kidneys, leaving her with severe nausea and headaches that forced her to leave school in October.
The fiery 11-year-old known for her beautiful, long red locks was starting to lose her hair after she began chemotherapy and dialysis treatments.
“Some spots of my hair has came out, just like started falling out,” Maggie told CNN affiliates WOAI/KABB.
“[Newt’s] growing out his hair in case I need a wig.”
But her brother’s sweet gesture meant he had to make one serious decision: either cut his hair or withdraw from his Texas school.
According to the Poth Independent School District (ISD) handbook, which was obtained by CNN, male students are not permitted to have hair extending “beyond the ear opening on the sides nor beyond the top of a dress shirt collar in the back.”
“It really stressed me out because I already worried about my sister,” Johnson said. “It made me feel good that I could do something for her.”
Instead of cutting his hair and following the rules. Johnson decided to withdraw from Poth High School and home school while continuing to grow his mane. It needs to reach eight to 14 inches before he can donate his hair to his sister through the nonprofit Locks of Love.
District officials confirmed that Johnson is no longer a student at the high school.
“Listen to your kids, if they really believe in something, even if it does go against the rules, sometimes you just have to dig deep [to] see if it’s really worth it or not,” said Johnson’s father, Alan Johnson. “It’s worth it.”
Rules are rules
Johnson was asked by his high school to cut his hair before the beginning of winter break in December. The school gave him until Tuesday, January 21, before the code of conduct consequences would be implemented, according to Poth ISD Superintendent Paula Renken.
But when he returned to school, he hadn’t gotten a haircut.
Johnson’s mother, Jamie Mathis-Johnson, was called into the school to pick up Johnson to get a haircut that Tuesday, Renken said. After meeting with the principal, the school also offered Johnson’s parents a meeting to formally discuss their feelings with the school district’s officials.
“The parent declined the offer from the Poth High School principal, Mr. [Todd] Deaver to set up a meeting with the superintendent to discuss her dissatisfaction with the dress code,” Renken told CNN.
The district holds an annual review of the student handbook before the school year starts, giving the public an opportunity to provide recommended changes to district guidelines, including student dress code.
If Johnson had returned to school, he would have been assigned in school suspension or after school detention, according to Renken. Johnson, she said, “would not have been denied his education.”
“I don’t understand why he has to get in trouble for doing this for me,” Maggie said.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances, PISD raised over $3,000 for the Johnson family to help with hospital expenses, along with collecting hundreds of cards from fellow students and staff.
“It was never about not supporting a sick child,” Renken said.
“Principal Deaver performed his duties as he is expected to under the policies and procedures in place. He and his staff, along with the other two campuses in Poth ISD, enforce the board directed rules and guidelines fairly and consistently.”
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
First grade teacher tried to buy an ‘eight ball’ of meth while at Florida school
A Florida teacher is facing felony drug charges after police say she tried to buy methamphetamine while teaching.
Valerie Lee Prince, a first grade teacher at Jacksonville Heights Elementary School in Jacksonville, was in contact with an undercover officer with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, according to a news release.
An audio recording that CCSO made and provided to the media revealed a woman talking to an officer about buying an $85 “eight ball” –an eighth of an ounce — of methamphetamine.
The woman, who the CCSO identified as Prince, is heard telling the undercover officer he can come to the school before kids arrive at 8:30 a.m. or during her lunch break at 11 a.m.
“It was a pretty nonchalant request and the indication was it was no big deal to the suspect,” Clay County Sgt. Vincent Hall said.
The teacher intended to leave the classroom of first graders to buy the narcotics, use some and save the rest for her boyfriend, said Clay County Lt. Domenic Paniccia with the CCSO during a press conference Friday.
The CCSO actually made the arrest after school, Hall said. Prince was charged with possession of methamphetamine.
“In a case like this, for a teacher to be willing to leave the classroom, leave those children and to have the intent to go consume any degree of narcotics and then to return to the classroom setting where she has care of children is unacceptable,” Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels said.
Prince also admitted she used methamphetamine 10 times within the last five to six months, the news release said.
CNN has reached out to Duval County Public School Board for comment, but has not heard back. It was not clear as of Saturday whether Prince has retained an attorney.
Prince is being held at the Clay County Jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned on March 10, court records show.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Doctor shot after fight over stuffed animal at Dallas Dave & Buster’s
DALLAS (KTVT) – An argument over a stuffed animal at a Dallas Dave & Buster’s led to a shooting that injured a local doctor.
Police said two groups of people were involved in a verbal altercation inside the restaurant located in the 9400 block of North Central Expressway when one of the suspects open fired — striking the victim.
The victim — later identified as Dr. Carlos Chapa — was transported to a local hospital with a non-life threatening injury and is expected to recover.
Witness Emiliano Chapa found his brother on the floor of the restaurant after gunshots rang out.
“I picked him up and dragged him all the way through the whole building, around the corner and everything… ripped his pants, took off my belt, wrapped it around his thigh because I saw he was hit in the leg,” he recalled.
Chapa said he wrapped his brother’s leg, made sure it was OK and elevated it when one of the people involved in the incident came up to him.
“I tell him, “Right now it’s not the time, you need to speed up that tongue because… you’re apologizing, are you the one?’ He was like, ‘No, they were aiming at me,’ and then he said that it was all over a stupid animal… Stuffed animal, toys,” he said. “So, I tell him ‘You’re telling me over some toys, my brother got shot?”
When Belinda Young heard gunfire, she immediately started trying to find her son and his pee wee football team.
“All of the families got together and counted kids, getting them in a section in the back,” she said.
Another visitor Kirk Wilson grabbed his daughter — who was celebrating her 10th birthday — and put her in a utility closet.
I was telling her everything is OK, everything is fine,” Wilson recalled.
Dr. Chapa is the founder and medical director of Acupuncture & Integrative Medical Center and the board director & president for the National Acupuncture Association. He is also a U.S. Navy Veteran.
Police arrested Aurikel Silverio, 24, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to the shooting.
via: http://fox2now.com/2020/02/10/doctor-shot-after-fight-over-stuffed-animal-at-dallas-dave-busters/
Photo Credit: Dallas Police Department
Bill introduced to ban pumping own gas in Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would ban pumping your own gas starting next year.
Camille Lilly (D-Oak Park) sponsored House Bill 4571, which had its first reading on Feb. 5. It was subsequently referred to the House Rules Committee.
If passed, the bill would create the Gas Station Attendant Act. It states that no gas may be pumped at a gas station in Illinois unless it is pumped by a gas station attendant.
It would go into effect Jan. 1, 2021.
via: http://fox2now.com/2020/02/10/bill-introduced-to-ban-pumping-own-gas-in-illinois/
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Black woman checks shamers who criticized her for having large family: ‘I am a married, ADULT!’
An expectant mother of four found herself having to defend criticism of her growing family.
Last Monday, Leslie Lewis took to her wildly popular Instagram page, which features pictures and videos of her family and their adventures, to address criticisms about her large brood. Pregnant with baby No. 5, Lewis revealed in her post that people were questioning how she could afford all of her children among other comments.
Lewis’s post was liked over 50,000 times and received tons of comments.
“This is definitely a ppl of color issue. No one questions white women when they have large families, hell its encouraged but ppl are always policing our brown bodies,” one person wrote.
“I go through the same thing. I have 5 kids from my HUSBAND & people still feel the need to make comments about it,” another commenter said.
Being an entrepreneur and social media influencer, Lewis tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she expected negative comments, but she said that a recent message about her latest pregnancy prompted her to create the post.
“The last straw was when another woman felt the need to send me really hurtful messages assuming I must be on welfare and how I should be on birth control, etc.,” she says.
With networks like TLC making millions from shows portraying large, predominately white families in a positive way, Lewis called out a double standard where large black and brown families are portrayed as broken and unable to care for their children.
“It is… common practice, even in this day, for the media to portray families of color as incapable of raising large families positively,” Lewis explains. “In reality, working families of color have historically been large in size, usually with more than 3 children.”
Lewis urges other families being shamed to not let a stranger dictate their lives and says that she hoped that sharing her story would make a positive impact.
“I have learned to use my platform to uplift families and women of color, and to use the criticism as fuel to meet and exceed my personal and family goals!” She continues, “Maybe one day we will get a reality show since there’s no families of color with multiple kids on TV that people can relate to.”
Photo Credit: instagram/The Lewis Family Instagram