Tag Archives: Sexual harassment

Sports

DC Attorney General sues Washington Commanders, owner Dan Snyder and NFL for deceiving residents

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CNN
 — 

DC Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit against embattled Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, the team and the NFL on Thursday, alleging they colluded to deceive DC residents about an NFL investigation into the team’s toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault.

“For years the team and its owner have caused very real and very serious harm and then lied about it to dodge accountability and to continue to rake in profits,” Racine said Thursday. “So far they seem to have gotten away with it, but that stops today.”

The lawsuit alleges those deceptive efforts aimed to keep fans in the dark and increase profits for the team. The lawsuit cites the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which gives the Attorney General broad authority to hold individuals or a company accountable for misleading customers.

The AG’s investigation began last fall and found that Snyder lied to DC residents when he denied knowing anything about allegations of a hostile work environment and culture of sexual harassment within the team, according to Racine.

“In fact, the evidence shows Snyder was not only aware of the toxic culture within his organization, he encouraged it and he participated in it,” Racine said. “Mr. Snyder exerted a high level of personal control over everything the Commanders did and his misconduct gave others permission to treat women in the same demeaning manner.”

The NFL and Commanders launched what they billed as an independent investigation into the allegations, but they secretly entered into an agreement to give Snyder power over what could be shared with the public, the lawsuit alleges. At the same time, Snyder and the team tried to interfere with and obstruct the investigation, the lawsuit states.

Ultimately, the NFL released a short press release summarizing the investigation’s findings but said that they did not receive a written investigative report due to confidentiality concerns, the lawsuit states.

“Does any part of this investigation sound independent? Does any of this sound like accountability?” Racine said. “Of course not. That’s why we’re suing.”

Racine is now seeking unspecified financial penalties for every incident in which the parties lied to residents dating back to July 2020. The Attorney General said the penalties could run into the millions of dollars. The lawsuit also seeks a court order forcing the NFL to release all findings from its 10-month investigation into the Commanders’ workplace culture.

Commanders counsel John Brownlee and Stuart Nash issued a joint statement in response to the lawsuit.

“Over two years ago, Dan and Tanya Snyder acknowledged that an unacceptable workplace culture had existed within their organization for several years and they have apologized many times for allowing that to happen,” they said. “We agree with AG Racine on one thing: the public needs to know the truth. Although the lawsuit repeats a lot of innuendo, half-truths and lies, we welcome this opportunity to defend the organization – for the first time – in a court of law and to establish, once and for all, what is fact and what is fiction.”

NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy rejected the allegations as baseless.

“The independent investigation into workplace misconduct at the Washington Commanders was thoroughly and comprehensively conducted by Beth Wilkinson and her law firm. Following the completion of the investigation, the NFL made public a summary of Ms. Wilkinson’s findings and imposed a record-setting fine against the club and its ownership,” he said.

“We reject the legally unsound and factually baseless allegations made today by the DC Attorney General against the NFL and Commissioner Goodell and will vigorously defend against those claims.”

The announcement is just the latest issue for the Commanders, the newly branded team mired in several major investigations. Once one of the NFL’s premiere franchises, the team has had minimal success on the field and consistent controversies off the field over the last two decades under Snyder.

Snyder announced last week that he is considering a sale of the team and that he and his wife hired Bank of America Securities “to consider potential transactions.”

The allegations stem from a Washington Post report in 2020 in which 15 female former Commanders employees and two journalists who covered the team accused team staffers of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

After an investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson, the NFL fined the team $10 million, and Snyder handed control over the franchise’s daily operations to his wife, Tanya Snyder.

Yet the NFL declined to publicly release the findings of the investigation, sparking Congress to get involved with a House Oversight Committee review. Commissioner Goodell testified before the panel in June that the Commanders’ culture was “not only unprofessional, but toxic for far too long.”

Goodell said that the team had not received a written report from Wilkinson in order to preserve the confidentiality of those who had participated in the internal investigation.

Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent over 40 former Commanders employees, released a statement praising the suit and calling on the NFL to release the Wilkinson investigation.

“Today’s civil complaint filed by the DC Attorney General against the Washington Commanders, Dan Snyder, the NFL, and Commissioner Roger Goodell is further evidence of what we’ve long known: that both the Commanders and the NFL have engaged in deception and lies designed to conceal the team’s decades of sexual harassment and abuse, which has impacted not only the victims of that abuse, but also consumers in the District of Columbia.

“The filing of this complaint also marks an important step in validating the experiences of the brave women and men who came forward and in achieving, for the first time, a level of transparency into the scope of the misconduct.

“For far too long, the NFL has actively concealed wrongdoing by the Washington Commanders and has shielded Mr. Snyder from accountability at every turn. The NFL must understand that sexual harassment and abuse cannot be tolerated or concealed.”

The off-field issues have also been felt by the players and the team, now sitting at a disappointing 4-5 record, good for last place in the NFC East.

“Since I arrived here, it’s been a dark cloud over our organization,” Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste told Journal de Québec on Saturday. “Every time something good happens on the field, something bad happens off the field. A fresh start would give us a renewed energy and would win back the fans’ trust.”

The Commanders also faced sharp criticism for an inflammatory statement posted Wednesday that used the August shooting of running back Brian Robinson Jr. to push back against the lawsuit.

Racine’s office announced Wednesday he would hold a press conference to make a “major announcement” related to the Commanders the next day. In response, the Commanders issued a statement that referenced Robinson’s shooting and criticized its hometown city for “out-of-control violent crime.”

“Less than three months ago, a 23-year-old player on our team was shot multiple times, in broad daylight,” a Commanders spokesperson said in the statement. “Despite the out-of-control violent crime in DC, today the Washington Commanders learned for the first time on Twitter that the DC Attorney General will be holding a press conference to ‘make a major announcement’ related to the organization tomorrow.

“It is unfortunate that, in his final days in office, Mr. Racine appears more interested in making splashy headlines, based on offbeat legal theories, rather than doing the hard work of making the streets safe for our citizens, including bringing to justice the people who shot one of our players.”

Robinson, a rookie running back, was shot twice in an attempted armed robbery in August. He missed the first month of the season due to the injuries but has since recovered and returned to the field. Two teens were arrested last week in connection with the shooting.

Robinson’s agent Ryan Williams tweeted his displeasure with the Commanders’ statement on Wednesday night.

“Up until an hour ago, the Commanders handled the Brian Robinson situation with so much care, sincerity and class. And I was so grateful for all of it,” Williams said in a tweet Wednesday. “Although I know that there are some great humans in that building, whoever is hiding behind this statement is not one of them.”

Commanders president Jason Wright issued another statement later on Wednesday, saying the earlier statement “expressed our external counsel’s ongoing frustration with the Attorney General’s office.”

“The lawyers’ legitimate frustrations with the AG should have been separate and apart from referencing the terrible crime that affected our player,” Wright said.

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Entertainment

Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial begins with eight accusers set to testify, prosecutors say

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CNN
 — 

Eight women who say they were sexually assaulted by movie producer Harvey Weinstein will testify at his criminal trial in Los Angeles over the coming weeks, prosecutors said in opening statements Monday.

“Each of these women came forward independent of each other, and none of them knew one another,” prosecutor Paul Thompson told the jury, according to a pool report.

Four of the women’s testimony will be directly connected to specific charges. These women include Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Jane Doe 1, a model and actress who lived in Italy at the time; Jane Doe 2, a 23-year-old model and aspiring screenwriter; and Jane Doe 3, a licensed massage therapist, according to a pool report.

The most recent indictment in the case indicated there were five women directly connected to charges. CNN is working to clarify the difference between that indictment and the prosecutors’ opening statements.

In addition, four women will testify as “prior bad acts” witnesses, meaning their testimony isn’t related to a specific charge but can be used by the jury as prosecutors try to show Weinstein had a pattern in his actions. These women will testify about assaults outside of Los Angeles jurisdiction, Thompson said.

Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges including rape and forcible oral copulation related to incidents dating from 2004 to 2013, according to the indictment.

In court Monday, he appeared hunched over as he clambered from a wheelchair into a chair at the defense table. Wearing a suit and tie, he primarily looked at jurors throughout the proceedings.

The trial in California is his second such sexual assault case since reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker in 2017 revealed Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his influence as a Hollywood power broker to take advantage of young women.

At the time, Weinstein was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and helped produce movies such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks” and “Shakespeare in Love.”

The revelations led to a wave of women speaking publicly about the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and harassment in what became known as the #MeToo movement.

Weinstein was found guilty in 2020 in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Yet he has maintained his innocence, and New York’s highest court agreed in August to hear his appeal in the case.

In opening statements, Thompson outlined the women’s accusations and noted the similarities in their stories. The women will testify that Weinstein lured them into private meetings, often in hotel rooms, and then sexually assaulted them, Thompson said.

“I’m shaking and I’m kind of being dragged to the bedroom,” he quoted one woman as saying, according to the pool report.

Thompson also highlighted the women’s understanding of Weinstein’s imposing physical size as well as his power in Hollywood to make or break careers, the pool report said.

“I was scared that if I didn’t play nice something could happen in the room or out of the room because of his power in the industry,” one woman said, according to Thompson.

The women allegedly told friends and family members about their assaults, and those people may also be called to testify in the trial to confirm or deny such conversations.

Notably, the licensed massage therapist told Mel Gibson, the famed actor and director, about her assault, Thompson said.

The trial in Los Angeles comes two years after Weinstein was convicted in New York of similar charges featuring different women.

The New York charges were based on testimony from Miriam Haley, who testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 at his Manhattan apartment, and from Jessica Mann, who testified that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.

He did not testify in his own defense, but at his sentencing he offered an unexpected, rambling speech which oscillated between remorse, defense of his actions and confusion.

“I’m not going to say these aren’t great people, I had wonderful times with these people, you know,” Weinstein said of the women who accused him of assault. “It is just I’m totally confused, and I think men are confused about all of these issues.”

The former movie producer appeared in frail health during the trial and used a walker as he arrived to and left court each day. He used a wheelchair to arrive to the sentencing in March 2020 as well as in a court hearing in Los Angeles in July 2021. His attorneys have argued the lengthy prison sentence was a de facto life sentence due to his failing health.

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Technology

Nintendo Of America Says It’s Investigating Labor Allegations

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Photo: Kevin Winter (Getty Images)

Yesterday, Nintendo of America’s president Doug Bowser sent out an internal message to employees acknowledging the “media coverage involving claims made about worker conduct.” He wrote that “We have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims.”

This message, which Kotaku has viewed and which was shared with us by a source Kotaku has confirmed currently works for Nintendo, was posted to the company’s internal SharePoint account. (Kotaku has also corroborated the message’s authenticity with two other current Nintendo employees.) In the message, Bowser reassured current employees that Nintendo was taking the allegations seriously.

“We have strict policies designed to protect our employees and associates from inappropriate conduct and expect full compliance with these policies by all who work for or with us.” Doug wrote. “We have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims.”

Bowser’s message was posted on the same day that Kotaku published an investigative report about female contractors who had experienced sexual harassment while working as game testers at Nintendo of America’s Redmond, Washington headquarters. Our sources accused two managers who work or had worked at Nintendo of workplace misconduct, and the report described an internal workplace culture that was like a “frat house.”

Last November, Bowser condemned the sexual harassment allegations at Activision Blizzard as “distressing and disturbing,” saying that “[sexual harassment and toxicity] run counter to my values as well as Nintendo’s beliefs, values and policies.” Several days later, Nintendo updated its corporate governance document with a commitment to increase the number of female managers at the company.

“Please remember that our HR teams are here to support you,” wrote Bowser. “If you experience, have experienced, witness, or have witnessed anything concerning such behavior that is contrary to our Standards of Conduct, employee handbook, or Company Values, please immediately contact your HR Business Partner.” Kotaku reached out to Nintendo for a comment, but did not receive one by the time of publication.

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Entertainment

No One’s Happy About the Star-Studded David O. Russell Movie

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Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington are heading to Amsterdam, but folks aren’t happy about it. No matter how star-studded the cast may be, these days, no one’s particularly excited to watch a David O. Russell film. Still, the maligned director—who first made headlines for sexual assault allegations eight years ago—has managed to convince the best of the best to work with him on his new flick, Amsterdam.

The main trio are the core of the film, a random group of three friends (imagine these three actors befriending one another in Hollywood today!) who journey to Amsterdam and witness a murder. As they become suspects themselves, they’re forced to band together and find the real murderer—even if he or she is hiding amongst the three of them.

“So, two soldiers and a nurse found ourselves in Amsterdam,” Bale’s gruff soldier narrates. “We formed a pact, and we swore to protect each other no matter what.”

The comedy is set in the 1930s, following the hijinks of our two soldiers, one nurse, but also a stacked supporting cast of pop culture’s biggest names. While frequent Russell collaborators like Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have passed on appearing this time around, Christian Bale (who won an Oscar for his turn in Russell’s The Fighter) and Robert De Niro are returning for duty.

If Adam McKay thought he had Hollywood’s best of the best in Don’t Look Up, Amsterdam is one-upping him. Robbie, Bale, and Washington are the film’s leads, but Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Timothy Olyphant, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, Robert De Niro, and … Taylor Swift also make appearances.

Which begs the question: Why did all of these Hollywood darlings want to work with David O. Russell, of all people? After the trailer dropped today, social media users took no time to bring up the director’s shady past, which is tainted with one bombshell allegation of sexual harassment. There’s a reason Russell has been on a break for seven years.

“I want to freak out over the movie with Margot Robbie and Taylor Swift, but it’s more important to point out the heinous things that David O. Russell has been accused of,” wrote one, echoing a common sentiment. Others explicitly reminded followers of the accusations made against Russell several years ago.

Back in 2012, Russell’s 19-year-old niece Nicole Peloquin accused the director of fondling her breasts and placing his hands near her genitals. Adding to the abhorrence, Russell prodded his niece about her ongoing transition—after she had described the hormones she was using, the director slipped his hands under her shirt to feel her breasts.

The director didn’t dispute the incident, only adding that Peloquin was “acting very provocative towards him.” He did not face any charges.

And yet, the show must go on? Amsterdam will premiere in theaters on November 4.



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Business

Activision Blizzard Devs Don’t Want Any More Breast Milk Stolen

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Image: Activision Blizzard

10 months after a California lawsuit alleged widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, employees at the company don’t feel like it’s made the necessary changes and have created a worker committee to demand further reforms. Chief among them are calls for independent investigations, an end to retaliation, trans-inclusive healthcare, and protections for breastfeeding.

“We believe it is imperative that workers have a voice in Activision Blizzard’s anti-discrimination policies—without that, the company’s culture of harassment and abuse will continue to go unchecked,” senior motion graphic designer and member of the Worker Committee Against Sex & Gender Discrimination, Emily Knief, said in a statement today. “We hope to have a productive conversation with leadership where they acknowledge these growing concerns and enact the demands brought forth by the committee.”

The list of demands, as first reported by The Washington Post, includes things like the committee having a say in how policies are developed, witnesses at HR meetings, and more resources for customer support and community managers facing harassment by customers. It also calls for, in regard to cases of sexual harassment or discrimination, more clear-cut ends to mandatory arbitration and corporate retaliation which go beyond the company’s existing concessions in those areas.

“We appreciate that these employees want to join with us to further build a better Activision Blizzard and continue the progress we have already made,” Activision Blizzard spokesperson Jessica Taylor said in a statement. “We have, for example, already upgraded our lactation facilities, waived arbitration, hired new DEI and EEO leaders, and collaborated with employees to make our policies and processes more Trans inclusive, just to name a few issues the letter raises.”

Activision Blizzard has promised to waive mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment and discrimination claims when employees request it, but the committee is calling for the practice to be ended in its entirety. Similarly, Activision Blizzard says it has a strict policy against retaliation, but the committee is calling on “retaliation” to be more specifically defined.

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“Within 180 days of filing a claim, or until resolution of the dispute, if an employee is demoted or removed from their team or their work changes in other ways (work gets taken away from them for instance, or they are disciplined) that action is presumed to be retaliation,” it writes. The company is currently being sued by an employee who alleges that in addition to facing sexual harassment and misconduct, she was retaliated against by managers after reporting it in the form of missed promotions and bad performance reviews.

The committee also has a detailed list of demands specifically around breastfeeding, and cites a number of concerns shared by employees over the years:

1. The chairs in the private rooms would rock backward and could not be locked in position to properly position oneself to pump. Many workers were sitting on the floor to pump.

2. The tables were made of wood, were porous and textured so even though they were cleaned, breast milk built up and caked on the table discoloring and leaving trapped milk on the table.

3. The outlet situation was a fire hazard. There are only two plugs per room, one plug being used by a lamp with a USB jack for phones and another outlet was for the pump. There are no outlets for laptops or extra space to place a laptop if workers would like to work from this room. This resulted in extension cords being used.

4. Insufficient storage space: there were no locked cubbies for workers to keep their pump safe. Many workers had to lug them across campus multiple times a day as they didn’t want to leave them behind.

5. Refrigerators had padlocks that were not consistently locked or could be accessed by other workers. Workers were also using the refrigerators to store their beer in but the reason there were locks on them in the first place was due to workers’ breastmilk being stolen.

6. Sanitation standards were not being kept up. It did not appear that housekeeping was cleaning those rooms consistently the way the rest of the offices were.

Similar issues have been reported previously, and were shared on social media last December when a former Blizzard developer said their breast milk had been stolen from the work fridge. According to Activision Blizzard, there are more pumping locations that are properly equipped, “Quiet Rooms” now have pin codes, and the fridges have locks on them.

“We encourage any employees witnessing or experiencing inappropriate behavior to report it so it can be investigated,” the company said. Responses like that are part of the issue, however. While the committee is asking for direct involvement in the decision-making process, the company has stopped short of offering it.

Nowhere is that more clear than in the committee’s request around HR interactions. The employees want all of them to be documented, and for employees to have the option of bringing another coworker along. It’s a practice not uncommon among unionized workers. Instead, Activision Blizzard suggested employees who have concerns “approach a senior leader whom they trust.” Last fall, thousands of employees at the company called on its most senior leader, CEO Bobby Kotick, to resign.

The committee’s demands come a day after quality assurance developers at one of Activision’s Call of Duty studios successfully formed the first-ever union at a major U.S. gaming company. Today, the company announced that Modern Warfare 2 will come out on October 28.



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Entertainment

Mario Batali, Disgraced Celebrity Chef, Opts for Last-Minute Non-Jury Trial in Sexual Misconduct Case

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Disgraced celebrity chef Mario Batali surprised a Boston courtroom on Monday when he asked a judge to waive his right to a jury in a criminal trial over an allegation of sexual assault.

Minutes later, his accuser took the stand, describing a selfie near his since-shuttered Boston restaurant that descended into a nightmare of groping and nonconsensual kissing.

Batali, a former Food Network star, confirmed his decision to have Boston Municipal Court Judge James Stanton decide his fate just before jury selection was set to begin on Monday. The 61-year-old has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault and battery over an incident that took place in 2017.

“Absolutely,” Batali told Stanton on Monday, indicating he understood what he was doing.

Natalie Tene—who has previously gone on the record with her name as an alleged sexual assault victim—soon began alleging how what began with her taking a surreptitious photo of Batali on April 1, 2017, ended with a crime.

Tene told the judge that the incident began after Batali noticed her taking his picture and invited her to take one together.

As she described taking some 10 selfies with Batali, she said the chef began touching her out of the camera’s view. She also said Batali’s eyes were closed in a majority of the photos, and claimed “this guy was wasted” at the time.

“While this was happening, his hands were in sensitive areas, touching me, touching my body, so it was like a selfie, but other things were happening simultaneously,” Tene told the court, noting that Batali kept telling her to “take another one.”

Tene added that Batali was “grabbing me in a way…. I have never been touched like that before,” she said, indicating he was also “squeezing” her vagina.

“There was touching of my breast, touching of my rear end… touching of my face… his tongue in my ear,” she added, noting that as the alleged assault occurred, she was “really shocked, surprised, alarmed.”

“It was just a lot happening.”

Batali has steadfastly denied criminal conduct, despite at least four women coming out against the former TV chef and accusing him of sexual misconduct.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Anthony Fuller grilled Tene about whether she continued to take photos with Batali despite the alleged assault.

Tene conceded that there was a three-minute gap between some of the photos. She did, however, insist that she was shocked by the whole encounter, and noted that in one of the photos of the pair close together, Batali was “grabbing my ass in this photo.”

“This didn’t happen. There was no indecent assault. By the end of it, you will realize she is not telling the truth,” Fuller claimed during his opening statement.

Prosecutors allege Batali assaulted Tene while posing with her at Towne Stove and Spirits in Boston. The since-shuttered bar was located near the local outpost of Eataly, the Italian chain Batali once partly owned.

The photos—and Tene’s face—were not displayed to the public on Monday to protect her identity, though she was identified by name in court.

“While he pulled her face into his face, kissing her, his right hand groped her breast, her butt, and her crotch area,” Assistant District Attorney Nina Bonelli said during opening arguments.

Tene has also filed a civil lawsuit against Batali, alleging that the incident has resulted in “severe emotional distress.” She is just one of several women who have accused Batalli of misconduct, which forced the restaurateur to step down from his empire and leave the ABC cooking show The Chew.

“I have made many mistakes and I am so very sorry that I have disappointed my friends, my family, my fans, and my team,” Batali said in a December 2017 newsletter amid the swirling accusations. “My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility.”

A year later, the New York Times and CBS’ 60 Minutes both reported on sexual-assault allegations against Batali. The New York Police Department, however, told the Times back then that they closed investigations into Batali because they did not have enough evidence to make an arrest.

Since the allegations, Batali has largely been purged as a face of a nationwide restaurant empire. In 2019, the chef revealed that several people, including longtime partner Joe Bastianich, had bought out his share in the vast business.

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Entertainment

#Metoo mob comes for Bill Murray

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I thought the hunt for male scalps was over. That the days of ruining men with flimsy allegations had faded into the rear view.

I was wrong.

Another man is being #MeTooed out of existence — accused, convicted in the public square, soon to be canceled without a trial or so much as a finished kangaroo investigation. All because he pulled a pony tail or two, draped his arm around ladies without first obtaining explicit consent. Guilty — of being an old-fashioned flirt.

Horrors.

Production was shut down indefinitely on the movie “Being Mortal’’ after a complaint was made blasting the actor and “Saturday Night Live’’ alumn Bill Murray, 71, of displaying “inappropriate behavior’’ toward females on set.

How “inappropriate’’? The term covers all manner of sins.

According to Page Six, a source says Murray “was very hands-on touchy, not in any personal areas, but put an arm around a woman, touched her hair, pulled her ponytail — but always in a comedic way.

“It is a fine line and everybody loves Bill, but while his conduct is not illegal, some women felt uncomfortable and he crossed a line.’’

A source told Page Six that Bill Murray would pull women’s pony tails and place his arm around them, but not in any “personal areas.”
Getty Images

I’m not even sure where that line exists, or why the complainer didn’t simply tell Murray to “cut it out.”

As another source put it, Murray “loves women and loves to flirt, he enjoys poetry and romance, he’s always flirting, but it is always couched in comedy.

“It isn’t clear if he crossed a line.”

That’s it?

Unless more allegations surface, this is pretty weak. Murray is no Harvey Weinstein-style sexual predator. He’s not even a Bill Clinton-level harasser. He is not accused of hitting on, groping, injuring, assaulting, manhandling, sexually or otherwise, yelling at, using profanity toward or as much launching a harsh word or bad breath in anyone’s direction around the movie set.

It appears that the beloved performer, long considered one of Hollywood’s good guys, is the victim of a smear campaign. He’s been trapped in a maelstrom of male hatred and female rage. Since the accusations of non-offenses were made, the son of actor Richard Dreyfuss, Ben, has been dining out on a more than-three decade-old story of Murray staging a meltdown on the set of “What About Bob?’’ and throwing an ashtray at Dreyfuss’ face, and missing.

An old tale dredged up to prove he’s not as nice as believed. But what has he done lately?

Murray’s co-star and director of “Being Mortal,’’ Aziz Ansari, 39, should know better. After conducting a consensual sex act with Ansari in 2018, a woman engaged in a twisted kind of revenge porn aimed at him, posting a viral article online detailing her disgust with the interaction. The poor guy was stunned and slimed, his career, for a while, upended. Meanwhile, the lady hid behind a pseudonym.

This, I wrote then, represented the time the #MeToo movement officially jumped the shark.

Surely Ansari should speak up in Murray’s defense.

The film’s director, Aziz Ansari faced accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior in 2018.
WireImage for Vanity Fair

When did women get so weak and sensitive, robbed of agency? If Murray bugged anyone, any hint of displeasure would certainly have made him stop. Now the movie production is losing money as Murray is being “investigated.”

It’s a world gone mad. Real sexual criminals should be stopped, exiled from show business, even put in prison. But the Bill Murrays of the world should, at most, be asked to cool it. Punishing him for flirting makes a mockery of actual sexual harassment.

We all should know the difference between criminal behavior and mere flattery. #MeToo must not be weaponized.

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Entertainment

Charlie Rose attempts #MeToo comeback 5 years after CBS firing

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Disgraced journalist Charlie Rose has kicked off a comeback attempt nearly five years after being fired by both CBS and PBS amid allegations of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Rose, who turned 80 in January, posted a 75-minute interview with 91-year-old business giant Warren Buffett on his personal website on Thursday. In it, the two talked about the latter’s career as Rose quizzed him about fellow billionaire bigwigs and space jockeys Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, among other subjects.

“I’m proud to share this recent conversation with Warren Buffett,” Rose wrote as an introduction to the chat — seemingly the start of a series titled “Charlie Rose Conversations” — on his website. “It is his first interview on camera in almost a year and the first I’ve done in more than four years. It is a step in a journey to engage the most interesting people and explore the most compelling ideas in the world.”

Rose, a former “CBS This Morning” anchor and host of his own self-titled talk show on public television, was “terminated” from his high-profile positions in November 2017 after he was hit with allegations of unwanted sexual advances.

Charlie Rose has attempted a comeback, posting an interview with business giant Warren Buffett on his website.
charlierose.com/TMX
Charlie Rose talks with Warren Buffett during a 75-minute interview posted on the former’s website.
charlierose.com/TMX

Not everyone was thrilled, though, with Rose’s return to broadcasting, even on his own streaming platform.

“Once again, I shall ask, how’s that whole cancel culture going for folks?” tweeted writer Rebecca Carroll, while another social media commenter added their own snark: “Look at how cancel culture has ruined the careers of men like Charlie Rose and Louis CK. So sad,” referencing the fallen comic who recently received a Grammy Award, despite sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Others called out Buffett for even agreeing to do the sit-down tête-à-tête.

“What is wrong with #WarrenBuffet? Hundreds of respectable journalists who don’t sexually harass women available, and he chooses to give an interview to #CharlieRose?” wrote one commenter who claimed to be a retired journalist in their profile. “Please let Rose crawl back under the rock he’s been hiding under for the past 4 years – and stay there. #MeToo“

During the interview, the discussion never touched on any accusations against Rose. Instead, the talker steered Buffett to blithely open up about aging and its effects on him, with Buffett acknowledging that while he may be winding down, his “happiness” was still intact.

“I’ve gotten dumber, but I’ve gotten wiser,” he said, noting that his memory and more aren’t quite as good as they used to be.

“I am a decaying machine that still feels wonderful,” he continued. “But I can’t hear as well, I can’t see as well, my balance isn’t as good, but it doesn’t interfere with my happiness, my work — anything.”

He also said that certain forms of 21st-century communication remain beyond his skill set.

“I don’t know how to send emails,” he admitted with a laugh. “I literally don’t know how to send an email.”

When Rose asked him how he felt when people referred to him as a “genius,” business leader Buffett dismissed the thought — and he even suggested that his line of work didn’t rely on brainiacs to keep it functioning.

“I’m a bright guy who’s terribly interested in what he does, so I’ve spent a lifetime doing it. I’ve surrounded myself with people that bring out the best in me — and you don’t need to be a genius in what I do,” he responded. “That’s the good thing about it. If I went into physics or a whole lot of other stuff, I’d be an also-ran. But I am in a game that you don’t need — you probably need 120 points of IQ. But 170 doesn’t do any better than 120. It may do worse — probably do worse. But you don’t really need brains.”



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US

University of Michigan settling students’ sexual abuse lawsuit

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The University of Michigan on Thursday reached a settlement agreement with students who demanded changes in the university’s handling of sexual assault on campus, according to a report by The Associated Press. 

In the university’s deal with the students in federal court, the school will create a multidisciplinary committee which will be designed to protect those on the University of Michigan campus from sexual assault and abuse, the AP notes.

The committee, called the Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT), will be made up of 30 members that include experts on Title IX and campus sexual abuse, reports the AP. 

The committee will also include select faculty and administration members, as well as members of the community, the AP reports.

“I think, most importantly, [the committee] has representation from students and survivors,” said assistant professor of law at Wayne State University Nancy Cantalupo to the AP. “They will all have a seat at the table alongside the other experts that are on the CCRT.”

“And that will give them a direct line into the administration — and the upper levels of the administration — in terms of communicating their concerns and their needs,” Cantalupo added.

The University of Michigan was hit by allegations that came to light in 2020 from hundreds of men who alleged sexual assault by the deceased campus doctor, Robert Anderson, the outlet reports.

The school announced a $490 million settlement with those who accused Anderson, the AP reports.

Former University President Mark Schlissel was also removed from his position early this year, the AP notes, following the revelation of emails citing an inappropriate sexual relationship between him and a subordinate.



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Sports

U.S. Ski & Snowboard investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and racial slurs

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12:02 PM ET

  • Alyssa RoenigkESPN

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      Alyssa Roenigk is a senior writer for ESPN whose assignments have taken her to six continents and caused her to commit countless acts of recklessness. (Follow @alyroe on Twitter).

U.S. Ski & Snowboard confirmed Friday that it is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior on the U.S. snowboard team, including by longtime head coach Peter Foley.

The investigation was spurred by Instagram posts made by former athlete Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, 32, a member of the 2010 U.S. Olympic snowboard team.

“U.S. Ski & Snowboard has been made aware of the recent allegations,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard said in a statement to ESPN. “We take these allegations very seriously and the allegations are being investigated.”

U.S. Ski & Snowboard spokesman Tom Horrocks did not respond to questions asking whether Foley, who is in Beijing, will continue to coach throughout the Olympics, and did not provide further details of the investigation.

In a series of posts to Instagram beginning on Feb. 6, Chythlook-Sifsof, 32, accused Foley of sexual harassment and taking “naked photos of female athletes for over a decade.”

In her posts, Chythlook-Sifsof also accused an athlete — 30-year-old Hagen Kearney, who is currently competing in snowboardcross in Beijing — of intimidating behavior and using racial slurs.

Instagram twice removed Chythlook-Sifsof’s posts for violating “our guidelines on nudity or sexual activity” and “bullying or harassment.” She reposted the allegations to her Instagram story and has continued to post throughout the Olympics.

“I cannot watch another Olympic Games without saying this publicly …” Chythlook-Sifsof wrote in her initial post. She then tagged Foley, Kearney and the U.S. snowboard team, and detailed a race in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, in 2014 where she says Foley made inappropriate sexual comments to her and a female teammate. In the same post, she accused Kearney of physically intimidating behavior and repeatedly using the N-word in her presence.

Foley has served as a head coach of the U.S. snowboard team since it was founded in 1994.

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