Tag: sexual harrassment
Penn Badgley says he was molested by ‘Gossip Girl’ fans
Penn Badgley says he suffered sexual assault at the hands of over-zealous “Gossip Girl” fans.
“I think as an actor you can become an object of desire, which is something women are already accustomed to more or less around the world — I’ve definitely been, I mean, I don’t want to sound sensationalist, but I’ve literally been molested — just in the literal sense of the word — by many people in the moment,” Badgley, 32, told The Daily Beast. “Because that’s what they do.”
The actor, who stars as stalker Joe Goldberg in Lifetime’s “You,” clarified that as a white male, he faces fewer problems than others who are less privileged, but cited Terry Crews as an example of famous men who’ve been sexually assaulted, noting, “these things very much happen, you know.”
Badgley explained that his character in “You” raises a lot of debate in the light of the #MeToo movement.
“I think that’s the interesting thing about this show, is that Joe looks like me, he acts and talks like me to a degree, so I think the audience is supposed to be like, ‘Aw, that might be nice if someone was that infatuated with me,’” he said.
He continued, “I think it’s significant that a show like this is coming out now, because if it had come out any other time, we might not have been having these necessary conversations around it. And we might have been all too ready to consume something that I think actually has some really dangerous seeds in it.”
Badgley struggled with making his character sympathetic, like when a director tried to get him to play Joe as “less disgusting” when the character was masturbating on the street by making him close his eyes.
“I only closed my eyes for one take, because I was pretty adamant about not wanting to do it. And it’s because it was so much creepier with my eyes open,” Badgley said. “Like, why are we trying — Joe is masturbating on the side of the street as he watches a young woman … and we’re worried about it being too creepy?! Do we not think it’s already crossed that line? So I was always kind of on the sidelines like, ‘We don’t need to defend Joe.’”
As a result of the sudden and overwhelming fame and obsessive, occasionally Joe-like fans he faced with the sexy CW hit series, Badgley admits that he “definitely took a breather” from Hollywood before ultimately returning to television.
“I definitely had to question if I wanted to keep doing what I’ve been doing. But I’m excited — I think,” he shared. “When it comes to the fame side of things, I don’t think anybody, whether they’re famous or not, could claim to understand that phenomenon or have any sort of power over it. So I’m just cautious and careful.”
Article via: Penn Badgley says he was molested by ‘Gossip Girl’ fans
Sylvester Stallone accused of sexual misconduct from 27 years ago
A woman has filed a police report accusing Sylvester Stallone of sexual assault from 27 years ago.
The “Rocky” and “Rambo” actor/director’s reps told TMZ they are aware of the allegation and are contemplating filing a complaint against the accuser. His representatives say they have been told the woman is claiming she was raped, according to TMZ.
The Santa Monica Police Department says it will investigate the claim despite the expiration of the statute of limitations, which in California is 10 years for sexual assault or battery.
This isn’t the first time Stallone has found himself vehemently denying a sexual misconduct allegation. In the past, his representatives have sometimes portrayed his accusers as opportunists looking for fame or money.
Stallone’s attorney Marty Singer, according to TMZ, was ready to file a complaint that his client’s latest accuser be investigated for filing a false report. Singer said a media outlet contacted him more than a month ago and said the accuser is alleging that Stallone raped her in his Santa Monica office in 1990.
Stallone, 71, admits to having spent three days with the woman in Israel during a movie shoot in 1987, but denies seeing her at all in 1990.
Last month, the Daily Mail obtained a 1986 police report alleging that Stallone forced a 16-year-old into a threesome with himself and his bodyguard, Mike De Luca, at a Las Vegas hotel. The accuser says she consented to have sex with Stallone but not De Luca, and that Stallone threatened to “beat her head in” if she told anyone.
In January 2013, the New York Post obtained documents showing that Stallone had reached a confidential multimillion-dollar settlement in 1987 with his half-sister Toni-Ann Filiti.
Filiti, who was 18 years younger than Stallone, had alleged that he abused her for years. Filiti died of lung cancer in 2012. As part of the settlement, the New York Post said, Filiti destroyed several secretly recorded tapes she made of conversations with Stallone, the Post said.
Jacqueline Stallone, mother to both Sylvester Stallone and Filiti, came to her son’s defense, telling the Post that her daughter was addicted to prescription painkillers and was desperate for cash.
In 2001, Margie Carr, an exotic dancer who worked out at the same Santa Monica fitness center as Stallone, filed a lawsuit alleging he “forcibly pinned” her against a wall and tore off her clothes.
Singer said at the time that Carr’s claim was “purely fictional and totally without merit,” and that she had sold her story to a tabloid prior to filing her lawsuit.
Stallone has had a career resurgence following the critical and box-office success of “Creed,” the 1985 sequel to his “Rocky” films. He co-wrote and will reprise his role as Rocky Balboa in “Creed 2,” but recently stepped down as its director, saying he believes someone younger should helm the movie. Steven Caple Jr. will direct, marking his first such assignment on a major studio feature.
Article via: https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/21/sylvester-stallone-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-from-27-years-ago/
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/