Bette Midler Says Geraldo Rivera Has ‘Yet to Apologize’ for Allegedly Groping Her in the 1970s
Bette Midler says Geraldo Rivera has “yet to apologize” for allegedly groping her in the 1970s.
The 71-year-old singer spoke out about the veteran journalist on Twitter on Thursday after a video of a 1991 interview Midler did with Barbara Walters — where she first recounted the incident — resurfaced online.
It had gained traction because Rivera defended TODAY show anchor Matt Lauer, who was fired for alleged sexually inappropriate behavior.
“Tomorrow is my birthday. I feel like this video was a gift from the universe to me,” Midler wrote in a tweet that accompanied the video of her Walters interview. “Geraldo may have apologized for his tweets supporting Matt Lauer, but he has yet to apologize for this.”
She ended her message by using the popular “#MeToo” hashtag, used by victims of sexual harassment assault to express their own experiences.
In her interview with Walters, Midler recounted the alleged incident after Walters asked about Rivera’s claim that he and the stage star had a sexual encounter.
“Geraldo and his producer came to do an interview with me, in the ’70s, the early ’70s,” Midler said. “And this was when he was very, sort of, hot. And he and his producer left the crew in the other room, they pushed me into my bathroom, they broke two poppers and pushed them under my nose and proceeded to grope me.” (The word “poppers” is slang for the recreational drug alkyl nitrite.)
Walters cocked her head to the side and looked shocked as she asked, “Grope…?”
Midler nodded and said, “Groped me. I did not offer myself up on the altar of Geraldo Rivera. He was … he was unseemly.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Midler’s and Rivera’s representatives for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Article via: http://people.com/tv/bette-midler-says-geraldo-rivera-never-apologized-for-groping-her/
Missing Florida girl spotted with soccer coach
Caitlyn Frisina, 17, has been missing since Sunday. Police say she is with her high school’s boys’ soccer coach, Rian Rodriquez, 27.
Caitlyn Frisina’s parents discovered their 17-year-old daughter was missing from their Florida home Sunday morning. Now, police are tracking Frisina and a 27-year-old soccer coach across multiple states.
Police said Frisina is with Rian Rodriguez, 27, the boys’ soccer coach at her high school.
Article via: http://www
Babysitter tells NJ mom he’s taking her 6-year-old daughter to movie, sexually assaults girl instead
ELIZABETH, N.J. — The former baby sitter of a 6-year-old girl has admitted he sexually assaulted her at a motel after telling the child’s mother he was taking her to a movie.
Union County prosecutors said Tuesday Jonathan Tavara-Nima pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault. The 31-year-old Elizabeth man faces a minimum of 25 years in prison when he’s sentenced Jan. 26.
Authorities say the victim’s family had hired Tavara-Nima through a website. But he continued to show up at the girl’s home after his employment ended, sometimes uninvited.
Authorities say Tavara-Nima told the girl’s mother in May that he was taking her to a movie. But he instead bought her a new dress and stockings and took her to a motel, where the assault occurred.
Matt Lauer fired from NBC for ‘inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace’
Matt Lauer has been terminated for “inappropriate workplace behavior,” NBC News chairman Andrew Lack wrote in a memo to staff that was read at the top of the Today show Wednesday.
Lauer has served as co-anchor of NBC’s morning news program since 1997. He joined Today in 1994.
Joined by Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie announced that her former co-anchor had been terminated, reading a memo sent to NBC staff, which USA TODAY also obtained.
“On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company’s standards. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment,” Lack said in the memo.
It continued, “While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”
Article via: https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/11/29/matt-lauer-fired-nbc-inappropriate-workplace-behavior/904340001/
Woman killed Thanksgiving guest for smoking crack at dinner table and not offering her any
A Thanksgiving dinner ended in horror when a Minneapolis woman allegedly killed her dinner guest for doing drugs at the table — and not offering her any.
Anenia Marie Hare, 47, told police that she invited 69-year-old Edward Caliph over to her apartment on Thursday to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.
Hare said before “they started to eat, she looked over and saw the victim lighting up a crack pipe,” the Star Tribune reports.
She allegedly told authorities she became angry because Caliph did not ask her permission to do drugs in her apartment and never asked her to participate.
Hare said she grabbed an antenna and butcher knife, stood in front of the apartment door and told Caliph he wasn’t allowed to leave. She told detectives she was only trying to appear intimidating.
Caliph started yelling for a neighbor to call 911, and allegedly broke a window in the living room with a vacuum cleaner trying to escape.
Hare allegedly grabbed her guest by the shoulders and fell on top of him as he fought to get the knife from her. “I just grabbed him by the front and he went down,” she told police. “To me it just felt like I put him in a deeper hold or something.”
Hare said after the struggle, Caliph fell face down on the ground and “he started snoring.”
Hare claimed she called 911 four times about the incident.
Police said the man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy showed he died of homicidal violence.
Hare was charged with second-degree murder and is being held on $500,000 bail at the Hennepin County Jail.
Welfare employee stole $225K in food stamps, other benefits
An employee of the city’s welfare agency used inside knowledge to create fake accounts and steal more than $225,000 in food stamps and other benefits over seven years, the state inspector general said Tuesday.
Omar Jaata, 42, of The Bronx, and his wife, Nyima Jaata, 37, were arrested on multiple federal charges.
Omar Jaata was hired by the Human Resources Administration in 2010 — eventually reaching the rank of “eligibility specialist” — and almost immediately began overriding administrative safeguards to steal food stamps and benefits, officials said.
“The theft of welfare benefits meant for New York families most in need is egregious at any level, but these defendants’ actions, particularly with the husband’s position as a public employee entrusted with administering these funds, makes this case particularly abhorrent,” said state Acting Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott.
via: https://nypost.com/2017/11/28/welfare-employee-stole-225k-in-food-stamps/
Brooklyn hospital illegally charged rape survivors for rape kits, sparking statewide A.G. investigation
FORT GREENE, Brooklyn — When a woman or man is sexually assaulted and then undergoes the administration of a rape kit — a lab test that collects DNA evidence that identifies the attacker — the procedure is free of charge, by law.
That law was violated by The Brooklyn Hospital Center for at least two years, affecting many dozens of women, according to an investigation by the New York Attorney General’s Office. It’s now probing to see if other hospitals across the state may have made the same violation by billing survivors repeatedly for rape kit administration.
“To seek that care and then have those essential services billed, and then keep getting that reminder of that time and that assault, it’s unconscionable,” said Josie Torielli, assistant director of the New York Alliance Against Sexual Assault.
Her organization received a complaint earlier this year from a woman who had survived a sex assault in 2016 and had a rape kit administered at Brooklyn Hospital.
“After her visit, she was billed seven different times for her rape kit,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday.
When the woman contacted the New York Alliance Against Sexual Assault, it enlisted the help of the state’s Office of Victims’ Services. It, in turn, contacted the hospital, which assured the state agency that it would stop billing the woman for the rape kit administration. It did not.
Not only that, said Attorney General Schneiderman, “When she didn’t pay the bill, they actually sent it to a collection agency. This is intolerable conduct.”
The average cost of a rape kit, including ones administered at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, according to the attorney general’s office, is $900.
“Nine hundred dollars?” exclaimed Syltasha Coby, a local resident, when told about this news. “For people to get charged, and they’re a victim, I think that’s unfair, to be honest.”
She was not the only person outraged.
“Us women, we’ve gotta suffer,” said an outraged Tarina Wyatt, a general patient at Brooklyn Hospital. “It’s just not fair.”
Eighty-five women were illegally billed for rape kits by the hospital between mid 2015 and early 2017, according to the attorney general’s investigation. Now, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, in a settlement with the state, will have to reimburse those women, with interest, and pay a $15,000 fine. No criminality was found in the case, Schneiderman said.
For its part, The Brooklyn Hospital Center issued a statement, that read, in part:
“The State Attorney General’s office brought this issue to the hospital’s attention in February 2017. We deeply regret the inadvertent breakdown in our billing processes related to sexual assault victims.
“We appreciate the efforts of the Attorney General’s office and thank them for their collaboration and advocacy. Working closely and transparently with their office, the hospital designed interdisciplinary processes and protocols to ensure that these billing issues do not occur again and to reflect not only our compliance with the law, but also our longstanding commitment to victims of sexual assault.”
Still, the case raises further questions, according to Attorney General Schneiderman.
“Our investigation into this issue has only just begun,” he said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “Today, we’re sending letters to other hospitals across the state, seeking billing data and other information on their policies and procedures in this area.”
Schneiderman said that his office is strongly interested in hearing from anyone who may have ever been billed for a rape kit. His hotline number is 800.428.9071, or online contact can be made here.
Rev. Al Sharpton visits Meek Mill in prison, says rapper represents victims of the justice system
PHILADELPHIA — Rev. Al Sharpton said a broken criminal justice system is responsible for Meek Mill’s imprisonment and called Monday for the judge who sentenced the rapper to reconsider or step aside.
Sharpton said he met with the 30-year-old musician in a Pennsylvania prison and told reporters outside the facility that Mill has become a symbol for the thousands of people who have been “victimized by abusive probationary and parole systems.”
“He’s representative of many people in institutions like this that do little or nothing, they’re violated and their lives, their businesses are ruined,” Sharpton said.
Mill was sentenced this month to two to four years in prison for violating probation on a roughly decade-old gun and drug case. The ruling came after both Mill’s probation officer and a prosecutor recommended that the Philadelphia-native not be jailed.
Before sentencing Mill, Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley said he wasted several chances to clean up his act after his original conviction. She cited a failed drug test, his failure to comply with a court order restricting his travel and two unrelated arrests before giving her ruling.
“You basically thumbed your nose at me,” she said.
The decision to imprison Mill has been criticized as heavy handed and has attracted attention through rallies, newspaper opinion pieces, billboards and buses in Philadelphia carrying the message “Stand With Meek Mill.”
Mill’s legal team has asked for his release and for the judge who sentenced him to be recused from the case.
British Actress Accuses Harvey Weinstein of Sex Trafficking in Lawsuit
Kadian Noble revealed her encounter with the disgraced mogul to CBS News, alleging he sexually assaulted her in a bathroom.
Another layer into the Harvey Weinstein scandal continues to unfold. British actress Kadian Noble has filed a civil suit alleging that the mogul sexually assaulted her during the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in France.
Sharing similar sentiments as other Weinstein accusers, Noble told CBS News that Weinstein lured her into his hotel room, promising a movie role, and also claimed in her suit that the mogul “recruits, solicits and entices young female actresses.”
“I still can hear the rattle from his belt, like him undoing his belt while he had grip of me,” Noble recalled, revealing that she was forced into a hotel bathroom, where Weinstein sexually assaulted her.
Noble said Weinstein approached her during the film festival and invited her to his room to watch her audition reel, only to begin allegedly assaulting her. “It seemed like it went on forever and he basically took, just completely touched me inappropriately and got me to put — force my hand in places,” she recalled.
The actress is now suing The Weinstein Co. for damages from the assault, with Noble alleging that Weinstein told her, “Everything will be taken care of for you if you relax,” after attempting to fight back against the mogul. The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, also claims that Weinstein took part in sex-trafficking, as he traveled between the U.S., London and France, where the assault occurred.
“Harvey was a legend. He was someone that I thought was going to make my dream a reality,” Noble said of her former thoughts of the mogul. The actress explained that she still harbors dark remnants from the attack and now feels like a different person.
“I’m not the same person, you know. I’ve had to have counseling. Just so much. But I’ve had to keep it to myself. I’ve kept it to myself,” Noble said, visibly emotional.
“Harvey wasn’t acting alone,” said Noble’s attorney Jeff Herman. “Harvey wasn’t allowed and enabled to do what he did to Kadian and other women without help.” A day prior, Herman told NBC’s Today he filed the suit under the federal sex trafficking law because he believes the alleged act falls within the statute. “The benefit of filing under this federal law is that it allows us to bring a claim in the United States for an assault that occurred overseas and it has a 10-year statute of limitations,” he said.
Weinstein has denied all allegations from the multiple accusers alleging the mogul sexually assaulted them, and a spokesman denied Noble’s claims.
Herman, a Florida-based attorney, also represents Weinstein accuser Dominique Huett, who accused the mogul of forcibly performing oral sex on her and is suing TWC for negligence for allegedly enabling his behavior.
Weinstein is currently under investigation by the Los Angeles, New York, London and Park City, Utah, police.
Article via: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/british-actress-accuses-harvey-weinstein-sex-trafficking-lawsuit-1062125
‘Celebrity’ elephant crushes owner to death in Thailand
Incident involving five-tonne elephant that has starred in films and commercials prompts fresh debate over use of animals in tourism
An elephant that has starred in feature films and commercials has crushed its owner to death in Thailand, zoo officials say, setting off fresh debate over the kingdom’s animal tourism industry.
With a mahout, or handler, on his back, Ekasit took a few steps before reversing course and attacking 54-year-old Somsak, who was on the ground.
“The elephant suddenly turned back and used his trunk to grab the victim. Then the elephant used his trunk to crush him,” Wuthichai Muangman, acting director of Chiang Mai zoo, told AFP.
The 32-year-old animal was being temporarily housed at the zoo under a contract due to expire in April.
Thailand is notorious for an elephant tourism trade, with the animals performing in circuses, giving rides, or being hired out for other forms of entertainment.
A July report by World Animal Protection found that twice as many elephants were pushed into Thailand’s tourism industry as in the rest of Asia combined, with most kept in “severely inadequate conditions”.
Out of 2,923 elephants documented as working in Asia’s tourism trade, 2,198 were in Thailand. Wuthichai said Chiang Mai zoo did not hold elephant shows but allowed tourists to feed the animals.
The animal rights campaign group Peta said that while the keeper’s death was a tragedy, it illustrated the potentially violent consequences of keeping elephants confined.
“Is it any wonder that some of these gentle animals eventually become fed up and fight back after being chained while confined to small enclosures that are a fraction of the size of their natural habitats?” a statement said.
Article via: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/28/celebrity-elephant-crushes-owner-to-death-in-thailand